US8193310B2 - Alpha helical mimics, their uses and methods for their production - Google Patents

Alpha helical mimics, their uses and methods for their production Download PDF

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US8193310B2
US8193310B2 US10/593,407 US59340705A US8193310B2 US 8193310 B2 US8193310 B2 US 8193310B2 US 59340705 A US59340705 A US 59340705A US 8193310 B2 US8193310 B2 US 8193310B2
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alpha
peptides
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David P. Fairlie
Nicholas E. Shepherd
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University of Queensland UQ
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K7/00—Peptides having 5 to 20 amino acids in a fully defined sequence; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K7/64—Cyclic peptides containing only normal peptide links
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P25/00—Drugs for disorders of the nervous system
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P25/00—Drugs for disorders of the nervous system
    • A61P25/08—Antiepileptics; Anticonvulsants
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P25/00—Drugs for disorders of the nervous system
    • A61P25/30—Drugs for disorders of the nervous system for treating abuse or dependence
    • A61P25/32—Alcohol-abuse
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P35/00—Antineoplastic agents
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K7/00—Peptides having 5 to 20 amino acids in a fully defined sequence; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K7/50—Cyclic peptides containing at least one abnormal peptide link
    • C07K7/54—Cyclic peptides containing at least one abnormal peptide link with at least one abnormal peptide link in the ring
    • C07K7/56—Cyclic peptides containing at least one abnormal peptide link with at least one abnormal peptide link in the ring the cyclisation not occurring through 2,4-diamino-butanoic acid
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to short chain peptides that have been constrained to adopt an alpha helical conformation and to their use as alpha helical scaffolds for directing amino acid side chains into positions analogous to those found in longer chain alpha helical peptides and for attaching peptidic or non-peptidic appendages in order to mimic side chains of longer alpha helical peptides.
  • the invention relates to alpha helical cyclic pentapeptides and their use as alpha helical scaffolds or macrocyclic alpha helical modules, either alone, or within longer chain peptides or attached to other macrocyclic peptides or attached to non-peptidic structures, for the purpose of mimicking naturally occurring peptides or proteins, and as agonists or antagonists of the biological activity of naturally-occurring peptides or proteins or for the preparation of new materials.
  • the alpha helix is a fundamental structural unit in the fabric of proteins, with 30% of all amino acids in proteins occurring in alpha helices. 1 When helical sequences of amino, acids are exposed on an exterior surface of a protein, the helix frequently interacts with another protein, a segment of DNA or of RNA. 2,3 This biomolecular recognition is central to a large range of biological processes, for example those summarized in Table 1. In most cases however only a few alpha helical turns are actually involved in the molecular recognition. For example, transcriptional regulators (e.g. p53, NF-kBp65, VP16c) 4,6 apoptosis regulators (e.g. Bak) 7 and RNA-transporter proteins (e.g. Rev) 8 all contain a short alpha helical sequence of only 2-4 turns that mediates function by direct interaction with a receptor.
  • transcriptional regulators e.g. p53, NF-kBp65, VP16c
  • Short peptide sequences of less than 15 amino acid residues that correspond to these helical protein regions are not thermodynamically stable structures in water when removed from their protein environments. 24,25 Short synthetic peptides corresponding to such alpha helical recognition motifs tend not to display appreciable helical structure in water, away from the helix-stabilizing hydrophobic environments of proteins. If short peptide alpha helices could be stabilized or mimicked by small molecules, such compounds might be valuable chemical or biological probes and lead to development of novel pharmaceuticals, vaccines, diagnostics, biopolymers, and industrial agents. The goal of structurally mimicking short alpha helices with small molecules that have biological activity comparable to proteins has not yet been realized.
  • Attempts to stabilize short alpha helical peptides have met with limited success to date.
  • Examples of methods used to stabilize alpha helicity in peptides longer than 15 residues are helix-nucleating templates 26-29 , metals 30-35 , unnatural amino acids 36,37 , non-covalent side chain constraints 38,39 and covalent side chain linkers (e.g. disulfide- 40,41 , hydrazone- 42 , lactam- 43-50 , aliphatic linkers 51-53 ).
  • Helix nucleating templates are organic molecules at the N- or C-terminus of a peptide which can make hydrogen bonds with the first or last four NH or C ⁇ O groups in the peptide, and thus nucleate helicity throughout the rest of the peptide. Such a task is not trivial due to the specific position, pitch and orientation of the required NH or C ⁇ O groups.
  • Transition metals 30-35 are often found in proteins serving both catalytic and structural roles. By exploiting the ability of transition metals such as Cu 2+ , Zn 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ru 3 , Pd 2+ to bind both acidic and basic residues it has been possible to achieve helix stabilization. Chelation of metals to donor groups generally yields ⁇ 1 kcal/mol ⁇ 1 in helix stabilization, however stabilization is very dependent on solvent, salt concentration and pH.
  • an analogue of p53 containing Aib and 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (Ac 3 c) yielded a peptide 1735 more active than the native peptide 67 .
  • Aib was substituted into deltorphin-C analogues a 10-fold K i increase in selectivity was obtained for 8 vs opioid receptor subtypes 68
  • Disulfide bridges have been employed to stabilize helices via two methods. The first involves the use of a modified, unnatural amino acid D,L 2-amino-6-mercaptohexanoic acid placed at the i th (D) and i+7 th (L) residues to stabilize two turns of an alpha helix 41 .
  • the second approach involves using a D-cysteine (i) and L-cysteine (i+3) disulfide to stabilize a single alpha helical turn. This approach was successful to a certain extent, however the conformation was quite solvent dependent 40 . It has recently been reported that this approach was used to constrain the SRC-1 peptide, which is known to adopt an alpha helical conformation in the estrogen receptor- ⁇ , and inhibit this receptor with a K i of 25 nM 69 .
  • Lactam bridges have often been used to increase helicity and turn conformations in long peptides. They generally involve the covalent amide linkage of the side chains of lysine/ornithine residues with the side chains of aspartic/glutamic acid residues at either i to i+3 or i to i+4 positions. These constraints although initially examined in model peptides have been applied to numerous biological targets in which the bioactive conformation is deemed to be helical. In general this constraint has been employed in relatively long sequences (15-30 residues) generally to create monocyclic analogues, but in some cases, up to three lactam bridges have been included.
  • this hexapeptide scaffold is limited for general application as a template since only two of six residues are available for interaction with a biological target.
  • the synthesis and properties of side-chain lactam bridged peptides, their alpha helical nature, functional activity and potential for improved proteolysis resistance has recently been reviewed 43 .
  • Modified lactam-type bridges can also be spaced i to i+7, therefore requiring longer linkers, and in this regard, aspartic/glutaniic acid, and/or diaminopropionic acid residues provide a convenient functionality to which linkers can be attached.
  • Some of these have included diaminopentane linkers joined to two glutamic acids 53 , 4-(aminomethyl)-phenylacetic acid linked via aspartic acid and 1,3-diaminopropionic acid 49 , or alternately 4-(aminomethyl)-phenylazobenzoic acid joined to the N- and C-terminus of an octapeptide.
  • the two former methods resulted in reasonably stable helices, whilst the latter resulted in a 3 10 helical/random coil conformation depending on the cis/trans isomerization of the azo linkage.
  • Ring closing metathesis has been used in helix stabilization.
  • this approach has been utilized with allyl-modified serine/homoserine residues in i ⁇ i+4 fashion. It has not been overly successful in stabilizing alpha helicity, although some 3 10 stabilization was observed.
  • Other approaches have incorporated both S- and R- ⁇ -methyl- ⁇ -allylglycine, along with the ⁇ -homoallyl and ⁇ -homohomoallyl derivatives, positioned at either i ⁇ i+4 or i ⁇ i+7 51 . It was found that the R-isomer at the i position and the S-isomer at the i+7 position, with an 11 carbon link provided 44% helix stability compared to the uncyclized peptide.
  • Non-peptidic mimicry of alpha helices has been rare, with only a few examples reported.
  • the first reported non-peptidic helix mimetics were 1,1,6-trisubstituted indanes, that when coupled to an amino acid were capable of presenting three side chains in a helical like conformation. When applied as tachykinin mimetics, they had micromolar affinity for NK and NK 3 receptors 73 . These type of molecules were recently applied to magainin mimicry, and whilst they were capable of killing bacterial strains they still maintained high hemolytic activity 74 .
  • Kahne and co-workers developed a pentasaccharide helix mimetic based on GCN4 which bound DNA with micromolar affinity 75 .
  • cyclic pentapeptides adopting alpha helices on their own. Usually cyclic pentapeptides have been used to mimic the smaller beta or gamma turns of peptides and proteins. There are numerous examples of cyclic peptides that mimic beta or gamma turns reported in the literature as demonstrated by several reviews 73-81 .
  • a prime example is synthetic compound 1 which is a cyclic pentapeptide containing the RGD tripeptide sequence. This compound is a potent glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonist and orally bioavailable antithrombotic and antitumor agent 73, 82, 83 .
  • Compound 1 provides a demonstration of how the simple insertion into a cyclopeptide of a rigid amino acid as a copformational constraint can result in favorable biological and pharmacological properties; and a number of its derivatives are in advanced clinical trials.
  • the cyclic RGD-containing heptapeptide drug eptifibatide (Integrilin) has been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiac events in patients at risk of abrupt vessel closure after coiffy angioplasty 84 .
  • Constraints do not need to be complex, as shown in compound 2 where an ornithine (or lysine) side chain is used to form the macrocycle.
  • This constraint in conjunction with proline and D-cyclohexylalanine constraints, induces intramolecular hydrogen bonding that confers potent antagonism (IC 50 10 nM) against human C5a receptors on polymorphonuclear leukocytes both in vitro and in vivo 85 .
  • C5a antagonists are expected to be useful for combating inflammatory diseases.
  • Cyclotheonamide A (Compound 3) is a 19-membered cyclic pentapeptide possessing ⁇ -keto amide and trans-4-aminobutenoyl constraints. It was isolated from the marine sponge Theonella sp. and was shown to inhibit the serine proteases thrombin (Ki 180 nM) and trypsin (Ki 23 nM). The NMR solution structure of compound 3 was recently found to be the same in water as those found in the solid state when bound to trypsin and thrombin 86 , suggesting that this natural product is pre-organized for enzyme binding, and that selectivity is associated with the positioning of the D-Phe side chain.
  • Lactam bridges (i ⁇ i+3, i ⁇ i+4, i ⁇ i+7) have previously been reported to increase alpha helicity in longer peptides, although the literature is very inconsistent about their capacity to do so 43-51 . There have been no reports of cyclic pentapeptides adopting alpha helical structures.
  • calcitonin which has been launched for the treatment of osteoporosis
  • the parathyroid hormone which is in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of osteoporosis
  • a substance-P/saporin conjugate which is in preclinical trials for the treatment of pain
  • conantokin-G which is under development for the treatment of epilepsy
  • This invention is predicated in part on the unexpected discovery that certain short chain peptides, which comprise at least one macrocyclic pentapeptide unit, are highly alpha helical in their own right in water even when subjected to denaturing conditions (e.g., 8M guanidine.HCl; trypsin; human plasma).
  • denaturing conditions e.g. 8M guanidine.HCl; trypsin; human plasma.
  • the present invention resides in novel alpha helical compounds and non peptidic structures, which use one or more such cyclic pentapeptides or their analogues as alpha helical scaffolds that can project additional peptidic, cyclic, and non-peptidic appendages into positions typical of side chains of alpha helical peptides and protein segments.
  • the present invention is also directed to methods for their preparation and use, as described hereinafter.
  • an element means one element or more than one element.
  • At least one embodiment of the present invention provides compounds comprising at least one macrocyclic moiety, particularly a cyclic pentapeptide moiety, which has surprising alpha helicity in water, even under strong protein denaturing conditions such as high temperature (e.g., 40 to 800° C.), or the presence of up to 8M guanidine hydrochloride, or the presence of proteolytic enzymes such as trypsin.
  • a compound comprising at least one alpha helical cyclic peptide, wherein the peptide consists essentially of a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other, with the proviso that when the compound comprises a single cyclic peptide it is selected from a compound that consists essentially of the single peptide or a compound that comprises the single peptide and a non-peptide moiety or a compound that comprises the single peptide and at least one other peptide that comprises at least one amino acid whose side chain has been derivatized and that when the compound comprises two or more cyclic peptides, at least two of these are located immediately adjacent to each other.
  • alpha helical refers to a three dimensional structural conformation which is analogous to those found in proteins and polypeptides.
  • the alpha helix conformation found in naturally occurring proteins and polypeptides has its side chains extending to the outside of the structure, has a complete turn every 3.6 amino acids, is right-handed and typically has hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl groups of the amide bond and an amide N—H group 4 amino acids further on in the sequence.
  • the cyclic peptides of the present invention have a helicity calculated from molar elipticities obtained from circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD spectroscopy) and are expressed as a percentage of the theoretical helicity obtainable for that peptide or a relative helicity compared to a reference standard or standard helix.
  • amino acid refers to compounds having an amino group and a carboxylic acid group.
  • An amino acid may be a naturally occurring amino acid or non-naturally occurring amino acid and may be a proteogenic amino acid or a non-proteogenic amino acid.
  • the amino acids incorporated into the amino acid sequences of the present invention may be L- ⁇ -amino acids, D- ⁇ -amino acids or mixtures thereof.
  • the cyclic peptides of the invention are linked directly or indirectly to non-peptide moieties.
  • moieties include, but are not limited to, aldehydes, toxins; drugs; polysaccharides; nucleotides; oligonucleotides; labels such as radioactive substances (e.g. 111 In, 125 I, 131 I, 99m Tc, 212 B, 90 Y, 186 Rh); biotin; fluorescent tags; imaging reagents (e.g., those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,900 and U.S. Pat. No.
  • hydrocarbon linkers e.g., an alkyl group or derivative thereof conjugated to a moiety providing for attachment to a solid substratum, or to a moiety providing for easy separation or purification (e.g., a hapten recognized by an antibody bound to a magnetic bead), etc.
  • Linkage of the peptide to the non-peptide moiety may be by any of several well-known methods in the art.
  • Suitable naturally occurring proteogenic amino acids are shown in Table 2 together with their one letter and three letter codes.
  • Suitable non-proteogenic or non-naturally occurring amino acids may be prepared by side chain modification or by total synthesis.
  • side chain modifications contemplated by the present invention include, but are not limited to modifications of amino groups such as by reductive alkylation by reaction with an aldehyde followed by reduction with NaBH 4 ; amidination with methylacetimidate; acylation with acetic anhydride; carbamoylation of amino groups with cyanate; trinitrobenzylation of amino groups with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS); acylation of amino groups with succinic anhydride and tetrahydrophthalic anhydride; and pyridoxylation of lysine with pyridoxal-5-phosphate followed by reduction with NaBH 4 .
  • side chain modifications contemplated by the present invention include, but are not limited to modifications of amino groups such as by reductive alkylation by reaction with an aldehyde followed by reduction with NaBH 4 ; amidination with methylace
  • the guanidine group of arginine residues may be modified by the formation of heterocyclic condensation products with reagents such as 2,3-butanedione, phenylglyoxal and glyoxal.
  • the carboxyl group may be modified by carbodiimide activation via O-acylisourea formation followed by subsequent derivatisation, for example, to a corresponding amide.
  • Sulfhydryl groups may be modified by methods such as carboxymethylation with iodoacetic acid or iodoacetamide; performic acid oxidation to cysteic acid; formation of a mixed disulfides with other thiol compounds; reaction with maleimide, maleic anhydride or other substituted maleimide; formation of mercurial derivatives using 4-chloromercuribenzoate, 4-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid, phenylmercury chloride, 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol and other mercurials; carbamoylation with cyanate at alkaline pH.
  • Tryptophan residues may be modified by, for example, oxidation with N-bromosuccinimide or alkylation of the indole ring with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide or sulfenyl halides.
  • Tyrosine residues on the other hand, maybe altered by nitration with tetranitromethane to form a 3-nitrotyrosine derivative.
  • Modification of the imidazole ring of a histidine residue may be accomplished by alkylation with iodoacetic acid derivatives or N-carboethoxylation with diethylpyrocarbonate.
  • Examples of incorporating unnatural amino acids and derivatives during protein synthesis include, but are not limited to, use of norleucine, t-butylglycine, norvaline, phenylglycine, ornithine, sarcosine, 2-thienyl alanine and/or D-isomers of amino acids.
  • Examples of suitable non-proteogenic or non-naturally occurring amino acids contemplated herein is shown in Table 3.—
  • Non-conventional amino acid Code Non-conventional amino acid Code ⁇ -aminobutyric acid Abu L-N-methylalanine Nmala ⁇ -amino- ⁇ -methylbutyrate Mgabu L-N-methylarginine Nmarg aminocyclopropane-carboxylate Cpro L-N-methylasparagine Nmasn L-N-methylaspartic acid Nmasp L-N-methylcysteine Nmcys aminonorbornyl-carboxylate Norb L-N-methylglutamine Nmgln cyclohexylalanine Chexa L-N-methylglutamic acid Nmglu cyclopentylalanine Cpen L-N-methylhistidine Nmhis D-alanine Dal L-N-methylisolleucine Nmile D-arginine Darg L-N-methylleucine Nmleu D-aspartic acid Dasp L-N-methyllysine Nmlys D-cystein
  • amino acid side chain or “side chain” refers to the characterizing substituent of the amino acid. This term refers to the substituent bound to the ⁇ -carbon of either a natural or non-natural ⁇ -amino acid. For example, the characterizing substituents of some naturally occurring amino acids are shown in Table 4.
  • proline Another naturally occurring amino acid is proline.
  • the cyclic peptide is a macrocycle formed by consecutively linking at least 18 to 22 atoms, wherein the first and last atoms are bonded to one another to form a ring.
  • the macrocycle is formed from 19 to 21 atoms, especially preferred are macrocycles formed from 20 atoms.
  • the first terminal residue and second terminal residue of the pentapeptide are alpha amino acids.
  • the resulting macrocycle ring size is preferably 18-22 atoms, more preferably 20 atoms.
  • the resulting macrocycle ring size is preferably 18-22 atoms, more preferably 20 atoms. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that modifications to the substituents at the first and second terminal residues of the pentapeptide will result in a slightly different optimal macrocycle requirements.
  • the two amino acid side chains of the first and second terminal residues defined above may be linked in any suitable manner to form a cyclic pentapeptide.
  • the side chains are linked by a covalent bond either directly or through a linker.
  • the side chains are covalently linked to one another without an intervening linker, for example, by formation of a lactam bridge between a side chain carboxylic acid group and a side chain amino group or a disulfide bond between two side chain thiol groups.
  • a carboxylic acid in the side chain of one amino acid residue is reacted with an amine in the side chain of a second amino acid residue to form an amide bond or lactam bridge.
  • one of the amino acid residues having a side chain participating in the linkage is selected from L-aspartic acid, L-glutamic acid, D-aspartic acid, D-glutamic acid, L- ⁇ -methyl-aspartic acid, L- ⁇ -methylglutamic acid, D- ⁇ -methylaspartic acid and D- ⁇ -methyl-glutamic acid
  • the other amino acid residue having a side chain participating in the linkage is selected from L-lysine, L-ornithine, D-lysine, D-ornithine, L- ⁇ -methyllysine, D- ⁇ -methyllysine, L- ⁇ -methylornithine and D- ⁇ -methylornithine.
  • the amide bond is formed by reaction of an L-aspartic acid or L-glutamic acid with an L-lysine or L-ornithine.
  • amino acid residues in the sequence are D- or L- ⁇ -amino acids, especially L- ⁇ -amino acids.
  • each Xaa is independently selected from any amino acid residue
  • R 1 is selected from H, an N-terminal capping group, a non-peptidic group or a group that mimics an amino acid side chain;
  • R 2 is selected from H, a C-terminal capping group, a group that mimics an amino acid side chain or a group that activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution;
  • each R′ and R′′ are independently selected from H, C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 2 -C 10 alkenyl, C 2 -C 10 alkynyl, C 3 -C 10 cylcoalkyl, C 5 -C 10 cycloalkenyl, —OH, —OC 1 -C 10 alkyl, —NH 2 , —NH(C 1 -C 10 alkyl), —N(C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 , C 6 -C 12 aryl, C 3 -C 10 heterocyclyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and halo;
  • L is selected from —NH—C(O)—, —C(O)—NH—, —S—S—, —CH(OH)CH 2 —, CH 2 CH(OH)—, —CH ⁇ CH—, —CH 2 —CH 2 —, —NH—CH 2 — —CH 2 —NH—, —CH 2 —S—, —S—CH 2 —, —C(O)—CH 2 —, —CH 2 —C(O)—, —S(O), —NH—, —NH—S(O)—, CH 2 —P( ⁇ O)(OH)— and —P( ⁇ O)(OH)—CH 2 —;
  • n 1 to 4
  • n is an integer from 1 to 4, and
  • t 0, 1 or 2
  • n+n 4, 5 or 6 and wherein when m is 2, n is not 3 and when m is 3, n is not 2.
  • alkyl refers to a saturated, straight or branched chain hydrocarbon group, preferably having 1 to 10 carbon atoms.
  • suitable alkyl groups include, but are not limited to, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, 2-methylbutyl, 3-methylbutyl, 4-methylbutyl, hexyl, 2-ethylbutyl, heptyl, octyl, nonyl and decyl.
  • Preferred alkyl groups have 1 to 6 carbon atoms.
  • Especially preferred alkyl groups have 1 to 3 carbon atoms.
  • alkenyl refers to a straight or branched chain hydrocarbons containing at least one carbon-carbon double bond.
  • Suitable alkenyl groups having 2 to 10 carbon atoms include, but are not limited to, vinyl, allyl, 1-methylvinyl, butenyl, pentenyl, hexenyl, heptenyl, octenyl, nonenyl and decenyl.
  • Preferred alkenyl groups have 2 to 6 carbon atoms.
  • Especially preferred alkenyl groups have 2 or 3 carbon atoms.
  • alkynyl refers to straight chain hydrocarbons containing at least one carbon-carbon triple bond.
  • Suitable alkynyl groups having 2 to 10 carbon atoms include, but not limited to, ethynyl, 1-propynyl, 2-propynyl, butynyl, pentynyl, hexynyl, heptynyl, octynyl, nonynyl and decynyl.
  • Preferred alkynyl groups have 2 to 6 carbon atoms.
  • Especially preferred alkynyl groups have 2 or 3 carbon atoms.
  • halo is intended to include fluoro, chloro, bromo and iodo.
  • cycloalkyl refers to saturated mono- or poly-cyclic hydrocarbon groups. Suitable cycloalkyl groups having 3 to 10 carbon atoms include, but are not limited to, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, cyclooctyl, cyclononyl, cyclodecyl and the like. Preferred cycloalkyl groups include cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl.
  • cycloalkenyl refers to saturated mono- or poly-cyclic hydrocarbon groups containing at least one carbon-carbon double bond. Suitable cycloalkenyl groups having 5 to 10 carbon atoms include, but are not limited to, cyclopentenyl, 1-methyl-cyclopentenyl, cyclohexenyl, cyclooctenyl, 1,3-cyclopentadienyl, 1,3-hexadienyl, 1,3-cyclohexadienyl, 1,4-cyclohexadienyl, 1,3-cycloheptadienyl, 1,3,5-cycloheptatrienyl and 1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraenyl.
  • Preferred cycloalkenyl groups include cyclopentenyl and cyclohexenyl.
  • aryl used either alone or in compound words denotes single, polynuclear, conjugated or fused residues of aromatic hydrocarbons.
  • aryl include, but are not limited to, phenyl, biphenyl, naphthyl, tetrahydronaphthyl.
  • Preferred aryl groups include phenyl and naphthyl.
  • heteroaryl refers to aromatic heterocyclic ring systems, wherein one or more carbon atoms (and where appropriate, hydrogen atoms attached thereto) of a cyclic hydrocarbon residue are replaced with a heteroatom to provide an aromatic residue. Where two or more carbon atoms are replaced, this may be by two or more of the same heteroatom or by different heteroatoms. Suitable heteroatoms include O, N, S and Se.
  • heteroaryl examples include, but are not limited to, pyridyl, thienyl, furyl, pyrrolyl, indolyl, pyridazinyl, pyrazolyl, pyrazinyl, thiazolyl, pyrimidinyl, quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, benzofuranyl, benzothienyl, purinyl, quinazolinyl, phenazinyl, acridinyl, benzoxazolyl, benzothiazolyl and the like.
  • Preferred heteroaryl groups include pyridyl, thienyl, furyl, pyrrolyl.
  • heterocyclyl when used alone or in compound words includes monocyclic, polycyclic, fused or conjugated hydrocarbon residues, preferably C 3-10 , preferably C 3-6 , wherein one or more carbon atoms (and where appropriate, hydrogen atoms attached thereto) are replaced by a heteroatom so as to provide a non-aromatic residue.
  • Suitable heteroatoms include, O, N, S, and Se. Where two or more carbon atoms are replaced, this may be by two or more of the same heteroatom or by different heteroatoms.
  • heterocyclic groups may include pyrrolidinyl, pyrrolinyl, piperidyl, piperazinyl, morpholino, indolinyl, imidazolidinyl, pyrazolidinyl, thiomorpholino, dioxanyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, tetrahydropyrrolyl etc.
  • any one of the following may apply:
  • R 1 is selected from H, an N-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a negative charge at the N-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a non-peptidic group or a mimic of an amino acid side chain.
  • Suitable N-terminal capping groups include acyl and N-succinate.
  • Suitable groups that mimic an amino acid side chain are any natural or unnatural amino acid side chain that is attached to the N-terminal amino group of the peptide through a carbonyl group derived from a carboxylic acid by formation of an amide bond.
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains include, but are not limited to:
  • non-peptidic groups enhance the stability, bioavailability or activity of the peptides.
  • Suitable non-peptidic groups include, but are not limited to hydrophobic groups such as carbobenzoxyl, dansyl, t-butyloxycarbonyl, acetyl, 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl, groups which stabilize or mimic alpha-helices, groups which mimic the secondary structure of peptides, particularly alpha helical peptides, such as those disclosed in WO 03/018587, groups which improve bioavailability, such as hydrophilic groups which aid aqueous solubility, for example, cyclodextrans; groups which are recognized by transport receptors to allow or improve transport of the peptides to the site of activity, for example, transport across cell walls or through an epithelial layer such as skin or the gut wall.
  • R 2 is selected from H, a C-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a positive charge at the C-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a peptide of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 amino acid residues optionally capped with a C-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a positive charge at the C-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a mimic of an amino acid side chain or a group which activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution.
  • a suitable C-terminal capping group is NH 2 .
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains are any common or unnatural amino acid side chain that is attached to the C-terminal carbonyl group of the peptide through an amine group by formation of an amide bond.
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains include but are not limited to:
  • Suitable groups which activate the C-terminal carboxylic to nucleophilic attack include converting the carboxylic acid to an acid chloride, an acid anhydride, an acyl azide, an O-acylisourea, a phosphonium derivative or an activated ester, especially those known in the art for activating carboxylic acids for peptide bond formation.
  • non-peptidic groups enhance the stability and circulating time, or decrease immunogenicity, or increase solubility, bioavailability or activity of the peptides (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,337).
  • Suitable non-peptidic groups include but are not limited to hydrophobic groups such as t-butyl, groups which stabilize or mimic alpha-helices, groups which mimic the secondary structure of peptides, particularly alpha helical peptides, such as those disclosed in WO 03/018587, groups which improve bioavailability, such as hydrophilic groups which aid aqueous solubility, for example, cyclodextrans; groups which are recognized by transport receptors to allow or improve transport of the peptides to the site of activity, for example, transport across cell walls or through an epithelial layer such as skin or the gut wall.
  • PEG polyethylene glycol
  • pegylation refers to the process of reacting apoly(alkylene glycol), suitably an activated poly(alkylene glycol), with a facilitator such as an amino acid, e.g. lysine, to form a covalent bond.
  • pegylation is often carried out using poly(ethylene glycol) or derivatives thereof, such as methoxy poly(ethylene glycol), the term is not intended to be so limited here, but is intended to include any other useful poly(alkylene glycol), such as, for example poly(propylene glycol).
  • the chemical moieties for derivitization may also be selected from water soluble polymers such as polyethylene glycol, ethylene glycol/propylene glycol copolymers, carboxymethylcellulose, dextran, polyvinyl alcohol and the like.
  • the pentapeptide compounds may be modified at random positions within the molecule, or at predetermined positions within the molecule and may include one, two, three or more attached chemical moieties. In some embodiments, the modification occurs at a position outside of the cyclic pentapeptide moiety, for example at amino acids preceding the cyclic pentapeptide moiety or at the N-terminus.
  • the polymer may be of any molecular weight, and may be branched or unbranched.
  • polyethylene glycol exemplary examples include micropegylated groups devised specifically to enhance oral delivery in peptides as described in WO2004047871. Methods for attaching Peg groups are well described in the patent literature (WO2004047871, U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,575; EP 0 401 384; WO03057235A2)
  • polyethylene glycol may be covalently bound through amino acid residues via a reactive group, such as, a free amino or carboxyl group.
  • Reactive groups are those to which an activated polyethylene glycol molecule may be bound.
  • reaction chemistries may be employed to attach polyethylene glycol to specific amino acid residues (e.g., lysine, histidine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, or cysteine) of the polypeptide or to more than one type of amino acid residue (e.g., lysine, histidine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, cysteine and combinations thereof) of the protein or polypeptide.
  • Polyethylene glycol may be attached to the protein or polypeptide either directly or by an intervening linker.
  • Polyethylene glycol can also be attached to polypeptides using a number of different intervening linkers.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,460 discloses urethane linkers for connecting polyethylene glycol to proteins.
  • Protein polyethylene glycol conjugates wherein the polyethylene glycol is attached to the protein or polypeptide by a linker can also be produced by reaction of proteins or polypeptides with compounds such as MPEG-succinimidylsuccinate, MPEG activated with 1,I′-carbonyldiimidazole, MPEG-2,4,5-trichloropenylcarbonate, MPEG-p-nitrophenolcarbonate, and various MPEG-succinate derivatives.
  • MPEG-succinimidylsuccinate MPEG activated with 1,I′-carbonyldiimidazole
  • MPEG-2,4,5-trichloropenylcarbonate MPEG-p-nitrophenolcarbonate
  • MPEG-succinate derivatives A number of additional polyethylene glycol derivatives and reaction chemistries for attaching polyethylene glycol to proteins and polypeptides are described in WO 03/057235; PCT/GB03/00062; U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,128; U.S. Pat. No.
  • Each R′ is selected from H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 , vinyl, OH, OCH 3 , NH 2 , NH(CH 3 ), N(CH 3 ) 2 , phenyl, F or Cl; most preferably H or CH 3 , especially H.
  • Each R′′ is selected from H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 or vinyl, especially H.
  • n 1 and n is 3 or 4
  • m 2 and n is 4
  • m 3 and n is 1 or m is 4 and n is 1 or 2, especially where m is 1 and n is 4.
  • Each Xaa may be any amino acid residue selected to mimic the amino acid residues in a known alpha helical peptide of interest or to prepare an unknown peptide having new properties.
  • An individual Xaa can be the same or different as another Xaa and is preferably selected from a D- or L-alpha amino acid residue.
  • Especially preferred peptides of formula (I) have at least one Xaa which is a D- or L-alpha amino acid residue that is favorable to helix formation.
  • peptides in which 2 or 3 of Xaa are D- or L-alpha amino acid residues that are favorable to helix formation, for example, alanine, arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, glutamic acid, glutamine, cysteine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, histidine and aspartic acid, especially alanine, arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, glutamic acid and glutamine.
  • L is preferably —NH—C(O)— or —C(O)—NH—.
  • the cyclic pentapeptides of the invention display tolerance of variation of Xaa residues, with most amino acid substitutions of these residues retaining a high degree of helicity.
  • the range of amino acid substitutions that could be made at a specific Xaa residue would be readily apparent to a person of skill in the art.
  • peptides of the invention include, but are not limited to:
  • Especially preferred peptides are those of SEQ ID NO. 1, SEQ ID NO. 2, SEQ ID NO. 4, SEQ ID NO. 6 and SEQ ID NO. 7, more especially SEQ ID NO. 1 and SEQ ID NO. 7.
  • amino acid sequences represented by the above peptides include:
  • the peptide compound comprises at least one cyclic pentapeptide of the invention and at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or more amino acid residues adjacent thereto.
  • the peptide compound comprises a single cyclic pentapeptide of the invention and another amino acid residue located immediately upstream or downstream thereof.
  • the present invention provides a method for constructing a constrained helical peptide comprising the steps of: (1) synthesizing a peptide, wherein the peptide comprises a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the individual side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linkable to each other; and (2) cyclizing the peptide by linking the side chain of the first terminal residue with the side chain of the second terminal residue, thereby yielding a constrained helical peptide.
  • the first terminal residue has a side chain containing an amide bond-forming substituent and the second terminal residue has a side chain containing a functional group capable of forming an amide linkage with the side chain amide bond-forming substituent of the first terminal residue and the peptide is cyclised by reacting the side chain amide bond-forming substituent of the first terminal residue with the functional group of the second terminal residue to form an amide bond linkage, thereby yielding a constrained helical peptide.
  • reactive groups on the side chains, including the amide forming substituents are suitably protected, for example, carboxy groups can be suitably protected as esters such as methyl, ethyl, allyl, benzyl, t-butyl or phenyl esters and amino groups can be suitably protected with alkyloxy carbonyl, allyloxycarbonyl (Alloc), benzyloxycarbonyl (Z), t-butoxycarbonyl (Boc), 2-(4-biphenylyl)-isopropoxycarbonyl (Bpoc), 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc), triphenylmethyl (trityl) or 2-nitrophenylsulphenyl (Nps) groups, which may be removed after synthesis of the peptide and before reaction to form the amide bond linkage.
  • Suitable methods for selectively protecting and deprotecting functional groups can be found in Green & Wutz 94 and Taylor (2002) 43 .
  • peptides of the present invention may be prepared using techniques known in the art. For example, peptides can be synthesized using various solid phase techniques 91 or using an automated synthesis and standard Fmoc chemistry 92 . These techniques are also suitable for incorporating non-naturally occurring amino acid residues into the amino acid sequence.
  • non-naturally occurring amino acids may be incorporated into the sequence by manipulation of a residue in the sequence.
  • the hydroxy group or thiol group of threonine, serine or cysteine may be alkylated to provide an ether or thioether, or substituents may be introduced into the phenyl ring of phenylalanine or tyrosine using known substitution reactions such as Friedel-Crafts alkylation or acylation.
  • the peptides of the present invention may be substantially purified using preparative HPLC.
  • the composition of the peptides can be confirmed by amino acid analysis or by sequencing, for example, using the Edman Degradation procedure.
  • Suitable protecting groups for use during solid phase synthesis or solution phase of the amino acid sequences together with suitable protecting and deprotecting methods for reactive functional groups such as amines and carboxylic acids, are known in the art, for example, as found in Green & Wutz 94 .
  • cyclization to form a cyclic peptide may be achieved by methods known in the art.
  • an amide bond may be formed between a side chain carboxylic acid and a side chain amine by activation of the carboxylic acid, for example, as an acid chloride, acid anhydride, an acyl azide, a carbodiimide, an acyloxyphosphonium or uronium compound or an active ester, and allowing nucleophilic attack from the amine nitrogen atom.
  • a particularly preferred method of activating the carboxylic acid to nucleophilic attack is preparation of an acyloxyphosphonium or uronium derivative of the carboxylic acid, for example, by reaction with the carboxylic acid with benzotriazolyloxy-tri-(dimethylamino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate (BOP) or benzotriazolyloxy-tris-(pyrrolidinyl)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate (Py-BOP) in the presence of a tertiary amine such as triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) or similar reaction using Benzotriazol-1-yl-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium ion (HBTU).
  • BOP benzotriazolyloxy-tri-(dimethylamino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate
  • Py-BOP benzotriazolyloxy-tris-(pyrrol
  • the peptides of the invention are designed to mimic binding determinants from alpha helical binding domains of known proteins. Such peptides have a number of uses, including the determination of whether a binding determinant in an alpha helical binding domain of a known protein can serve as a structural model for the design of peptidomimetics or small molecules capable of mimicking or antagonizing the binding activity of the intact protein.
  • the practitioner may select a binding protein with an alpha helical domain that interacts with a ligand, and then identify a candidate binding determinant situated within a sequence of (e.g., three or more) contiguous amino acid residues in the helical binding domain.
  • the candidate binding determinant can be identified by using mutagenesis (e.g., alanine scanning mutagenesis) to determine whether the candidate sequence contains one or more amino acid residues that are critical for ligand binding. Subsequently, a constrained peptide containing the candidate sequence is designed by selecting two residues in the candidate sequence (designated i and i+4) which are separated by an intervening sequence of n ⁇ 1 (e.g., 3) amino acid residues and which do not substantially interact with ligand (as determined by mutagenesis in the previous step) for substitution with amino acid residues having side chains that can be linked to each other.
  • mutagenesis e.g., alanine scanning mutagenesis
  • the peptide is synthesized and the side chains of the foreign i and i+4 residues are used to tether the peptide in an alpha helical conformation according to the methods of the invention described herein. Finally, the peptide's binding activity with the ligand is assayed, e.g., in a binding competition assay with the intact binding protein, and the results of the assay can be used to determine whether a peptidomimetic or small molecule antagonist could be developed using the binding determinant as a structural model.
  • the invention contemplates the use an alpha helical cyclic peptide, wherein the peptide comprises a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other as a scaffold for presenting the side chains of at least some of the five amino acid residues in a (three dimensional) conformation that is analogous to the conformation of amino acid side chains of at least a portion of an alpha helical domain of a known protein.
  • the side chains of at least 1 or 2 or all 3 of the intervening amino acid residues are so analogously presented.
  • the side chains of at least 1 or 2 or all 3 of the intervening amino acid residues and at least one terminal amino acid residue are so analogously presented.
  • at least part of the conformationally constrained secondary structure defined by the five amino acid residues i.e., pentapeptide
  • ligand-receptor binding pairs include protein-DNA binding partners (e.g., Zif268 and G/C rich major groove), protein-RNA binding partners (e.g., HIV reverse transcriptase and Rev response element (RRE); ⁇ -N peptide and BoxB RNA; p22 peptides and BoxB RNA) and protein-protein binding partners (e.g., p53 and HDM2; Bak and Bcl-X L ; VHL peptide and Elongin C; VP16 activation domain and HTAFn31; hPTH and hPTHrP; Dynorphin A and ⁇ , ⁇ -Opioid receptors; Apolipoprotein-E and LDL receptor; Neuropeptide-Y and NPY receptors; Galanin and Gal receptors; Corticotropin Releasing Factor and CRF receptors; Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide and CGRP receptors; Nociceptin and ORL1 receptor; Vasointestinal P
  • the constrained helical peptides of the present invention are believed to derive their activity by interaction of the face of the helix opposing the i ⁇ i+4 constraint.
  • the positions i ⁇ i+4 of a first constrained helical pentapeptide will be offset by approximately one third of a turn relative to positions i ⁇ i+4 of a second constrained helical pentapeptide.
  • the i ⁇ i+4 faces of the two helices will not be aligned directly in the same plane and will be out of register by approximately one third of a turn.
  • the helical peptide may simply comprise two or three consecutive constrained helical pentapeptides.
  • the helical peptide may comprise two consecutive constrained helical pentapeptides spaced from a third constrained helical pentapeptide by about 1, 2, 5, 8 or 9 natural or unnatural helix-forming amino acid residues.
  • the helical peptide may comprise three consecutive constrained helical pentapeptides spaced from a fourth constrained helical pentapeptide by about 0, 3, 4, 6 or 7 natural or unnatural helix-forming amino acid residues; or alternatively 1, 2, 5, 6 or 9 natural or unnatural helix-forming amino acid residues, depending on which face is required to be kept substantially free of any cyclizing linkages.
  • the helical peptide may comprise four consecutive constrained helical pentapeptides spaced from a fifth constrained helical pentapeptide by about 1, 2 or 3 natural or unnatural helix-forming amino acid residues. In still other illustrative examples, the helical peptide may comprise five consecutive constrained helical pentapeptides spaced from a sixth constrained helical pentapeptide by about 2, 7, 12 or 17 natural or unnatural helix-forming amino acid residues.
  • the conformationally constrained peptide comprises a plurality (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or more) of pentapeptides as broadly described above.
  • the present invention provides the use of a conformationally constrained peptide having a plurality of alpha helical pentapeptide sequences, wherein the pentapeptide sequences comprise a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other, as a scaffold for presenting the side chains of at least some of the amino acid residues of the pentapeptide sequences in a (three-dimensional) configuration that is analogous to the configuration of amino acid side chains of at least a portion of an alpha helical domain of a known protein.
  • the term “scaffold” is used in its broadest sense and includes a region or domain that has a conserved tertiary structural motif that can be modified to display one or more specific amino acid residues in a fixed conformation.
  • the side chains of at least 1 or 2 or all 3 of the intervening amino acid residues of each pentapeptide sequence are so analogously presented. In other embodiments, the side chains of at least 1 or 2 or all 3 of the intervening amino acid residues and at least one terminal amino acid residue of each pentapeptide sequence are so analogously presented.
  • at least part of the conformationally constrained secondary structure defined by the pentapeptide sequences mimics a member of a ligand-receptor binding pair.
  • some or all of the pentapeptides are located adjacent to each other. Alternatively, at least one of the pentapeptides is spaced from a pair of adjacent pentapeptides.
  • the conformationally constrained peptides of the invention are designed to mimic epitopes in proteins and are used to selectively raise polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies against such individual epitopes. Since the peptides will frequently be too small to generate an immune response, the peptides can be conjugated to carriers known to be immunogenic in the species to be immunized, e.g., keyhole limpet hemocyanin, serum albumin, bovine thyroglobulin, or soybean trypsin inhibitor using a bifunctional or derivatising agent, for example, maleimidobenzoyl sulfosuccinimide ester (conjugation through cysteine residues), N-hydroxysuccinimide (through lysine residues), glutaraldehyde, succinic anhydride, SOCl 2 , or R 1 N ⁇ C ⁇ NR, where R and R 1 are different alkyl groups.
  • a bifunctional or derivatising agent for example, maleimidobenzo
  • the macrocyclic moiety of the pentapeptide is stable in water to temperatures of up to about 80° C. and stable to denaturants such as 8M guanidine hydrochloride, and to the degradative effects of proteolytic enzymes such as trypsin or those present in human serum.
  • the alpha helical short-chain peptides are therefore suitable for use as chemical or biological probes, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology products such as vaccines or diagnostic agents, new components of novel biopolymers and as industrial agents.
  • alpha helical pentapeptides of the invention can be used alone to mimic a specific peptide motif of a protein or polypeptide or may be incorporated into a larger polymeric or non polymeric non-peptidic molecules or into hybrids of peptidic and non-peptidic components.
  • a use of at least one alpha helical cyclic peptide wherein the peptide comprises a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other, as a macrocyclic module for incorporation into a non-peptidic molecular structure, or for constructing a multi-macrocyclic structure that mimics multiple turns of an alpha helix.
  • Multi-macrocyclic structures may provide new or unknown three dimensional positioning of side chains in an alpha helix or may mimic a portion of, or an entire, alpha helical motif from a known protein or polypeptide.
  • the alpha helical cyclic peptide which is used as the scaffold or macrocyclic module, has the formula (II):
  • each Xaa is independently selected from any amino acid
  • each R′ and R′′ are independently selected from H, C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 2 -C 10 alkenyl, C 2 -C 10 alkynyl, C 3 -C 10 cylcoalkyl, C 5 -C 10 cycloalkenyl, —OH, —OC 1 -C 10 alkyl, —NH 2 , —NH(C 1 -C 10 alkyl), —N(C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 , C 6 -C 10 aryl, C 3 -C 10 heterocyclyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and halo;
  • L is selected from —NH—C(O)—, —C(O)—NH—, —S—S—, —CH(OH)CH 2 —, CH 2 CH(OH)—, —CH ⁇ CH—, —CH 2 —CH 2 —, —NH—CH 2 —, —CH 2 —NH—, —CH 2 —S—, —S—CH 2 —, —C(O)—CH 2 —, —CH 2 —C(O)—, —S(O) t —NH—, —NH—S(O) t —, CH 2 —P( ⁇ O)(OH)— and —P( ⁇ O)(OH)—CH 2 —;
  • R 3 is selected from H, an N-capping group or a mimic of an amino acid side chain
  • R 4 is selected from H, a C-terminal capping group, a mimic of an amino acid side chain or a group which activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution;
  • n 1 to 4
  • n is an integer from 1 to 4, and
  • t 0, 1 or 2
  • n+n 4, 5 or 6 and wherein when m is 2, n is not 3 and when m is 3, n is not 2.
  • any one of the following may apply:
  • R 1 is selected from H, an N-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a negative charge at the N-terminus to match with the helix dipole, or a mimic of an amino acid side chain.
  • Suitable N-terminal capping groups include acyl and N-succinate.
  • Suitable groups that mimic an amino acid side chain are any natural or unnatural amino acid side chain that is attached to the N-terminal amino group of the peptide through a carbonyl group derived from a carboxylic acid by formation of an amide bond.
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains include, but are not limited to:
  • R 2 is selected from H, a C-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a positive charge at the C-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a mimic of an amino acid side chain or a group which activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution.
  • a suitable C-terminal capping group is NH 2 .
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains are any common or unnatural amino acid side chain that is attached to the C-terminal carbonyl group of the peptide through an amine group by formation of an amide bond. Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains include but are not limited to:
  • Suitable groups which activate the C-terminal carboxylic to nucleophilic attack include converting the carboxylic acid to an acid chloride, an acid anhydride, an acyl azide, an O-acylisourea, a phosphonium derivative or an activated ester, especially those known in the art for activating carboxylic acids for peptide bond formation;
  • Each R′ is selected from H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 , vinyl, OH, OCH 3 , NH 2 , NH(CH 3 ), N(CH 3 ) 2 , phenyl, F or Cl; most preferably H or CH 3 , especially H;
  • Each R′′ is selected from H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 or vinyl, especially H;
  • n 1 and n is 3 or 4
  • m 2 and n is 4
  • m 3 and n is 1 or m is 4 and n is 1 or 2, especially where m is 1 and n is 4;
  • Each Xaa may be any amino acid residue selected to mimic the amino acid residues in a known alpha helical peptide of interest or to prepare an unknown peptide having new properties.
  • Xaa is preferably a D- or L-alpha amino acid residue.
  • Especially preferred peptides of formula (II) have at least one Xaa which is a D- or L-alpha amino acid residue that is favorable to helix formation.
  • peptides in which 2 or 3 of Xaa are D- or L-alpha amino acid residues that are favourable to helix formation, for example, alanine, arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, glutamic acid, glutamine, cysteine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, histidine and aspartic acid, especially alanine, arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, glutamic acid and glutamine; and
  • L is selected from —NH—C(O)— and —C(O)—NH—.
  • Scaffolds or macrocyclic modules of formula (II) can be prepared as described for peptides of formula (I).
  • N-terminal capping groups may and groups which mimic an amino acid side chain may be introduced by methods known in the art.
  • the N-terminal amino group may be reacted with a carboxylic acid derivative of the capping group or mimic or an activated carboxylic acid derivative to form an amide bond.
  • C-terminal capping groups and groups which mimic an amino acid side chain may be introduced by methods known in the art.
  • the C-terminal carboxylic acid may be activated and reacted with an amine derivative, preferably a primary amine derivative of the C-terminal capping group or group that mimics an amino acid side chain.
  • C-terminal carboxylic acid groups or any other carboxylic acid groups that require activation toward nucleophilic substitution can be activated by methods known in the art 95 .
  • the carboxylic acid may be activated by conversion to an acyl chloride using PCl 5 or SOCl 2 , conversion to an acyl azide by hydrazinolysis of a protected amino acid or peptide ester followed by treatment with NaNO 2 in aqueous acid, conversion to a symmetrical or mixed anhydride using two equivalents of an amino acid and a dicyclohexylcarbodiimide or by reaction with an acid chloride in a dry solvent in the presence of a mild base, conversion to an O-acylisourea by reaction with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide or by conversion to an acyloxyphosphonium or uronium species by reacting a carboxylate anion with a phosphonium or uronium cation, for example, BOP, PyBOP or HBTU.
  • the pentapeptide of formula (III) is an example of a peptide of formula (II) in which the three variable amino acid residues that represent Xaa are all alanine, the macrocycle is formed by amide bond formation between a lysine residue and an aspartic acid residue, R 3 is an amide formed from the reaction of phenylbutanoic acid and the N-terminal amino group and mimics a phenylalanine side chain, and R 4 is an amide formed by the reaction of isobutyl amine with an activated C-terminal carboxylic acid and mimics a valine side chain.
  • the scaffold or macrocyclic module may also be incorporated into a multi-macrocyclic structure or may be incorporated into a non-peptidic molecule.
  • macrocyclic module refers to a cyclic pentapeptide which may be unsubstituted at the N and C termini or may be activated for incorporation into a larger structure.
  • a pentacyclic peptide of formula II in which R 3 is H and R 4 is H or a group which activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution is a macrocyclic module.
  • Preparation of a non-peptidic molecule incorporating a scaffold or macrocyclic module may be prepared by reacting the N-terminal and/or activated C-terminal of the macrocyclic module with desired non-peptidic moieties.
  • a number of modules which may be the same or different, may be prepared as described herein and then consecutively linked to form a multi-macrocyclic peptide that mimics a number of turns of an alpha helix.
  • the multi-macrocyclic peptide may then be used to mimic a protein or polypeptide or part thereof, or may be incorporated into a longer peptide sequence.
  • a conformationally constrained peptide having a plurality of alpha helical pentapeptide sequences, wherein the pentapeptide sequences comprise a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other.
  • At least one of the alpha helical pentapeptide sequences is a pentapeptide module of formula (II).
  • the number of macrocyclic modules in the peptide or polypeptide will depend on the length of the alpha helical portion of the polypeptide required. If the peptide is intended to mimic an alpha helical portion of a known protein or polypeptide, the number of macrocyclic modules will be determined by the number of turns in the alpha helical portion of the known protein or polypeptide. For example, two cyclic pentapeptide modules of Formula (II) could be linked such that the N-terminal nitrogen atom is directly bonded to the C-terminal carbonyl group, to form a 2.8-turn alpha helix.
  • the conformationally constrained peptide having a plurality of alpha helical pentapeptide sequences is a compound of formula (IV):
  • each Xaa is independently selected from any amino acid residue
  • R 1 is selected from H, an N-terminal capping group, a peptide of 1 to 20 amino acid residues optionally capped by an N-terminal capping group, a non-peptidic group or a group that mimics an amino acid side chain;
  • R 2 is selected from H, a C-terminal capping group, a peptide of 1 to 20 amino acids optionally capped by a C-terminal capping group, a group that mimics an amino acid side chain or a group that activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution;
  • each R′ and R′′ are independently selected from H, C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 2 -C 10 alkenyl, C 2 -C 10 alkynyl, C 3 -C 10 cylcoalkyl, C 5 -C 10 cycloalkenyl, —OH, —OC 1 -C 10 alkyl, —NH 2 , —NH(C 1 -C 10 alkyl), —N(C 1 -C 10 alkyl) 2 , C 6 -C 10 aryl, C 3 -C 10 heterocyclyl, C 5 -C 10 heteroaryl and halo;
  • L is selected from —NH—C(O)—, —C(O)—NH—, —S—S—, —CH(OH)CH 2 —, CH 2 CH(OH)—, —CH ⁇ CH—, —CH 2 —CH 2 —, —NH—CH 2 — —CH 2 —NH—, —CH 2 —S—, —S—CH 2 —, —C(O)—CH 2 —, —CH 2 —C(O)—, —S(O), —NH—, —NH—S(O) t —, CH 2 —P( ⁇ O)(OH)— and —P( ⁇ O)(OH)—CH 2 —;
  • n 1 to 4
  • n is an integer from 1 to 4, and
  • t 0, 1 or 2
  • n+n 4, 5 or 6 and wherein when m is 2, n is not 3 and when m is 3, n is not 2;
  • p is an integer from 2 to 12; with the proviso that bicyclo (Lys 13 -Asp 17 , Lys 18 -Asp 22 ) [Ala 1 , Nlc 8 , Lys 18 , Asp 22 , Leu 27 ]hPTH (1-31) NH 2 is excluded.
  • any one of the following may apply:
  • R 1 is selected from H, an N-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a negative charge at the N-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a peptide of 1 to 15, 1 to 10 or 1 to 5 amino acid residues optionally capped with an N-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a negative charge at the N-terminus to match with the helix dipole, or a mimic of an amino acid side chain.
  • Suitable N-terminal capping groups include acyl and N-succinate.
  • Suitable groups that mimic an amino acid side chain are any natural or unnatural amino acid side chain that is attached to the N-terminal amino group of the peptide through a carbonyl group derived from a carboxylic acid by formation of an amide bond.
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains include, but are not limited to:
  • non-peptidic groups enhance the stability, bioavailability or activity of the peptides.
  • Suitable non-peptidic groups include, but are not limited to hydrophobic groups such as carbobenzoxyl, dansyl, t-butyloxycarbonyl, acetyl, 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl, groups which stabilize or mimic alpha-helices, groups which mimic the secondary structure of peptides, particularly alpha helical peptides, such as those disclosed in WO 03/018587, groups which improve bioavailability, such as hydrophilic groups which aid aqueous solubility, for example, cyclodextrans; groups which are recognized by transport receptors to allow or improve transport of the peptides to the site of activity, for example, transport across cell walls or through an epithelial layer such as skin or the gut wall;
  • R 2 is selected from H, a C-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a positive charge at the C-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a peptide of 1 to 15, 1 to 10 or 1 to 5 amino acid residues optionally capped with a C-terminal capping group that stabilizes the terminus of a helix, usually having hydrogen atoms able to form hydrogen bonds or having a positive charge at the C-terminus to match with the helix dipole, a mimic of an amino acid side chain or a group which activates the terminal carboxylic acid carbonyl group to nucleophilic substitution.
  • a suitable C-terminal capping group is NH 2 .
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains are any common or unnatural amino acid side chain that is attached to the C-terminal carbonyl group of the peptide through an amine group by formation of an amide bond.
  • Suitable mimics of amino acid side chains include but are not limited to:
  • Suitable groups which activate the C-terminal carboxylic to nucleophilic attack include converting the carboxylic acid to an acid chloride, an acid anhydride, an acyl azide, an O-acylisourea, a phosphonium derivative or an activated ester, especially those known in the art for activating carboxylic acids for peptide bond formation;
  • non-peptidic groups enhance the stability, bioavailability or activity of the peptides.
  • Suitable non-peptidic groups include but are not limited to hydrophobic groups such as t-butyl, groups which stabilize or mimic alpha-helices, groups which mimic the secondary structure of peptides, particularly alpha helical peptides, such as those disclosed in WO 03/018587, groups which improve bioavailability, such as hydrophilic groups which aid aqueous solubility, for example, cyclodextrans; groups which are recognized by transport receptors to allow or improve transport of the peptides to the site of activity, for example, transport across cell walls or through an epithelial layer such as skin or the gut wall;
  • Each R′ is selected from H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 , vinyl, OH, OCH 3 , NH 2 , NH(CH 3 ), N(CH 3 ) 2 , phenyl, F or Cl; most preferably H or CH 3 , especially H;
  • Each R′′ is selected from H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 or vinyl, especially H;
  • n 1 and n is 3 or 4
  • m 2 and n is 4
  • m 3 and n is 1 or m is 4 and n is 1 or 2, especially where m is 1 and n is 4;
  • Each Xaa may be any amino acid residue selected to mimic the amino acid residues in a known alpha helical peptide of interest or to prepare an unknown peptide having new properties.
  • Xaa is preferably a D- or L-alpha amino acid residue.
  • Especially preferred peptides of formula (IV) have at least one Xaa which is a D- or L-alpha amino acid residue that is favorable to helix formation.
  • peptides in which 2 or 3 of Xaa are D- or L-alpha amino acid residues that are favorable to helix formation, for example, alanine, arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, glutamic acid, glutamine, cysteine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, histidine and aspartic acid, especially alanine, arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, glutamic acid and glutamine;
  • L is —NH—C(O)— or —C(O)—NH—;
  • p is selected to provide the appropriate number of turns in the alpha helix.
  • peptides where p is 2 to 11, 2 to 10, 2 to 9 or 2 to 8, 2 to 7, 2 to 6, 2 to 5, 2 to 4, 2 to 3, 3 to 10, 3 to 9, 3 to 8, 3 to 7, 3 to 6, 3 to 5, especially 2 to 5.
  • Preferred peptides containing more than one consecutive macrocyclic module include those of formula (V): R 1 -[1,5-cyclo( Zaa - XaaXaaXaa - Yaa )] q -R 2 (V)
  • each 1,5-cyclo(Zaa-XaaXaaXaa-Yaa) is independently selected from:
  • cyclo-1,5-KXaaXaaXaaD [SEQ ID NO: 32] cyclo-1,5-DXaaXaaXaaK [SEQ ID NO: 33] cyclo-1,5-KXaaXaaXaaE [SEQ ID NO: 34] cyclo-1,5-EXaaXaaXaaK [SEQ ID NO: 35] cyclo-1,5-OXaaXaaXaaD [SEQ ID NO: 36] and cyclo-1,5-DXaaXaaXaaO [SEQ ID NO: 37]
  • q is an integer from 2 to 12 and R 1 and R 2 are as defined above.
  • 1,5-cyclo(Zaa-XaaXaaXaa-Yaa) sequences include:
  • cyclo-1,5-KARAD [SEQ ID NO: 38] cyclo-1,5-DARAK [SEQ ID NO: 39] cyclo-1,5-KARAE [SEQ ID NO: 40] cyclo-1,5-EARAK [SEQ ID NO: 41] cyclo-1,5-OARAD [SEQ ID NO: 42] cyclo-1,5-DARAO [SEQ ID NO: 43] cyclo-1,5-KAAAD [SEQ ID NO: 44] and cyclo-1,5-KGSAD. [SEQ ID NO: 45]
  • individual macrocyclic modules in the peptide are different.
  • individual macrocyclic modules in the peptide are the same.
  • peptides containing more than one consecutive cyclic pentapeptide module which are very stable alpha helices in water include:
  • Peptides comprising more than one macrocyclic module can be prepared by conventional solid phase synthesis as described for single macrocycles above, where cyclization occurs while the peptide is still attached to the solid phase resin by incorporation of amino acid residues with suitably protected side chains such as allyl protected aspartic acid or Alloc protected lysine, deprotection and cyclization. Further amino acid residues may be added to the resin bound macrocycle including other amino acid residues with suitable protected side chains, after the addition of five further amino acids, further cyclization may be effected to provide two consecutively linked macrocycles. This may be continued until the desired number of macrocycles is present and then the peptide can be cleaved from the resin.
  • a single cyclic macrocyclic module may be prepared using solid phase synthesis as hereinbefore described.
  • the single macrocyclic module may be cleaved from the resin and undergo either N-terminal protection or deprotection or C-terminal protection or deprotection.
  • a macrocycle having N-terminal protection and a macrocycle having C-terminal protection may then be reacted with one another by activating the unprotected carboxylic acid to nucleophilic attack by the unprotected amine nitrogen, to provide a multi-macrocyclic structure.
  • N-terminal and/or C-terminal protection and deprotection of a single macrocyclic module and a multi-macrocyclic module followed by coupling will allow the preparation of a multi-macrocyclic peptide.
  • the C-terminal carboxylic acid may be activated by formation of an acid chloride, acid anhydride, an acyl azide, a carbodiimide, an acyloxyphosphonium compound or an active ester, and allowing nucleophilic attack from the N-terminal nitrogen atom.
  • a particularly preferred method of activating the carboxylic acid to nucleophilic attack is preparation of an acyloxyphosphonium derivative of the carboxylic acid, for example, by reaction with the carboxylic acid with BOP, Py-BOP or HBTU in the presence of a tertiary amine such as triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine.
  • the helically constrained peptides described herein can be synthesized with additional chemical groups present at their amino and/or carboxy termini, such that, for example, the stability, bioavailability, and/or inhibitory activity of the peptides is enhanced.
  • additional chemical groups such as carbobenzoxyl, dansyl, or t-butyloxycarbonyl groups, may be added to the amino termini.
  • An acetyl group or a 9-fluorenylmethoxy-carbonyl group may be placed at the amino termini.
  • a hydrophobic group, t-butyloxycarbonyl, or an amido group may be added to carboxy termini.
  • the peptides of the invention can be synthesized such that their steric configuration is altered.
  • the D-isomer of one or more of the amino acid residues of the peptide can be used, rather than the usual L-isomer.
  • the compounds can contain at least one bond linking adjacent amino acids that is a non-peptide bond, and is preferably not helix breaking.
  • Non-peptide bonds for use in flanking sequences include an imino, ester, hydrazine, semicarbazide, oxime, or azo bond.
  • at least one of the amino acid residues of the peptides of the invention can be substituted by one of the well known non-naturally occurring amino acid residues, that is preferably not helix breaking.
  • the non-natural amino acid or non-amide bond linking adjacent amino acids when present, is present outside of the internal sequence, and is, preferably, not helix breaking.
  • at least one of the amino acid residues of the peptides of the invention can be substituted by one of the well known non-naturally occurring amino acid residues. Alterations such as these can serve to increase the stability, bioavailability, immunogenicity, and/or inhibitory action of the peptides of the invention.
  • the opioid receptor-like 1 (ORL-1) is the most recently identified member of the opioid receptor family 137 . Unlike the other three types of opioid receptor ( ⁇ , ⁇ , ⁇ ), the ORL-1 receptor does not display affinity for the naturally occurring opioid peptide ligands or for many synthetic opiates that selectively bind ⁇ -, ⁇ -, ⁇ -receptors 137 . In 1995 the endogenous ligand for the ORL-1 receptor was identified and called nociceptin (NC).
  • NC nociceptin
  • nociceptin consists of an N-terminal tetrapeptide which is referred to as the “message” sequence and is primarily responsible for triggering stimulation of the receptor, whilst the remaining C-terminal portion is referred to as the “address” sequence and is involved in binding and receptor specificity 137 .
  • nociceptin is an ideal target to show that constraining biologically important helices into an alpha helical conformation can improve activity and affinity.
  • the peptides of SEQ ID NOs: 49 to 51 were designed using the available SAR.
  • the peptide of SEQ ID NO: 49 is designed to be a nociceptin mimetic for agonism, whilst the peptide of SEQ ID NO: 50 is based on the recently reported antagonist [Nphe1]NC (1-15).
  • the peptide of SEQ ID NO: 51 consists of just the address sequence and the inventors consider that if this peptide has sufficiently high affinity for the receptor it may function as an antagonist. There are no studies to date on peptides incorporating only the address sequence.
  • compositions which comprise one or more compounds of the invention.
  • the compounds themselves may be present in the compositions in any of a wide variety of forms. For example, two or more compounds may be merely mixed together or may be more closely associated through complexation, crystallization, or ionic or covalent bonding.
  • a wide variety of prophylactic, diagnostic, and therapeutic treatments may be prepared from the compounds and compositions of the present invention, due in large part to the cross-reactivity—i.e., agonism or antagonism—of the macrocyclic moieties of the compounds with one or more naturally-occurring peptides or polypeptides.
  • a compound of the present invention finds utility as a molecular mimic or antagonist of a member of a ligand-receptor binding pair that underlies or is otherwise associated with the development of a particular disease or condition, wherein the ligand-receptor interaction is mediated at least in part by one or more alpha helical motifs present in the ligand or the receptor.
  • a compound of the present invention having one or more macrocyclic moieties that antagonize the interaction of a ligand and a receptor will be useful in the prevention or treatment of a disease or condition that results from inappropriate activation of the receptor by the ligand.
  • a disease or condition may arise through inadequate activation of a receptor, in which case the disease or condition may be treated or prevented by means of a compound having one or more macrocyclic moieties that mimic the binding determinants of the ligand or the receptor.
  • Illustrative diseases or conditions mediated by alpha-helix associated ligand-receptor interactions include diseases or conditions related to DNA transcription, diseases related to RNA reverse transcription, diseases or disorders related to transcriptional antitermination, diseases related to apoptosis regulation and tumor suppression, for example, cancers such as brain tumors, breast cancer, lung cancer, bone cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, renal cancer, liver cancer, lymphoma and leukemia; diseases or disorders related to calcium homeostasis, diseases or disorders related to pain transmission, diseases or disorders associated with lipid metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis, diseases and disorders related to stress response, or to anxiety, appetite, alcohol withdrawal, opiate withdrawal or epilepsy.
  • cancers such as brain tumors, breast cancer, lung cancer, bone cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, renal cancer, liver cancer, lymphoma and leukemia
  • diseases or disorders related to calcium homeostasis diseases or disorders related to pain transmission, diseases or disorders associated with lipid metabolism and cholesterol home
  • a further aspect of the invention contemplates a method for treating or preventing a disease or condition associated with a ligand-receptor interaction that is mediated at least in part by an alpha helical domain present in the ligand or the receptor, comprising administering an effective amount of a compound comprising at least one alpha helical cyclic peptide, wherein each peptide comprises a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other and wherein the side chains of at least some of the amino acid residues of the or each peptide are in a (three-dimensional) configuration that is analogous to the configuration of amino acid side chains of at least a portion of the alpha helical domain of the ligand or the receptor.
  • the compound is a compound of any one of formula (I), (II) or (IV).
  • the term “effective amount” relates to an amount of compound which, when administered according to a desired dosing regimen, provides the desired mediation of the disease or disorder, therapeutic activity or disease prevention. Dosing may occur at intervals of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years or continuously over any one of these periods.
  • a therapeutic, or treatment effective amount is an amount of the compound which, when administered according to a desired dosing regimen, is sufficient to at least partially attain the desired therapeutic effect, or delay the onset of, or inhibit the progression of or halt or partially or fully reverse the onset or progression of the disease or disorder.
  • a prevention effective amount of compound which when administered to the desired dosing regimen is sufficient to at least partially prevent or delay the onset of a particular disease or condition.
  • Yet another aspect of the invention provides a use of a compound comprising an alpha helical cyclic peptide, wherein the peptide comprises a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other, in the preparation of a medicament for the treatment or prevention of a disease or disorder mediated by the interaction of alpha helical peptides with biomolecules.
  • Suitable dosages may lie within the range of about 0.1 ng per kg of body weight to 1 g per kg of body weight per dosage.
  • the dosage is preferably in the range of 1 ⁇ g to 1 g per kg of body weight per dosage, such as is in the range of 1 mg to 1 g per kg of body weight per dosage.
  • the dosage is in the range of 1 mg to 500 mg per kg of body weight per dosage.
  • the dosage is in the range of 1 mg to 250 mg per kg of body weight per dosage.
  • the dosage is in the range of 1 mg to 100 mg per kg of body weight per dosage, such as up to 50 mg per kg of body weight per dosage.
  • the dosage is in the range of 11 g to 1 mg per kg of body weight per dosage.
  • Suitable dosage amounts and dosing regimens can be determined by the attending physician and may depend on the severity of the condition as well as the general age, health and weight of the subject.
  • the active ingredient may be administered in a single dose or a series of doses. While it is possible for the active ingredient to be administered alone, it is preferable to present it as a composition, preferably as a pharmaceutical composition.
  • the invention contemplates a pharmaceutical composition
  • a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound comprising an alpha helical cyclic peptide, wherein the peptide comprises a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other, or a conformationally constrained peptide having a plurality of alpha helical pentapeptide sequences, wherein the pentapeptide sequences comprise a sequence of five amino acid residues having a first terminal residue and a second terminal residue that are separated by an intervening sequence of three amino acid residues, and wherein the side-chains of the first and second terminal residues are linked to each other, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, excipient or diluent.
  • Suitable pharmaceutically acceptable salts include, but are not limited to, salts of pharmaceutically acceptable inorganic acids such as hydrochloric, sulfuric, phosphoric, nitric, carbonic, boric, sulfamic, and hydrobromic acids, or salts of pharmaceutically acceptable organic acids such as acetic, propionic, butyric, tartaric, maleic, hydroxymaleic, fumaric, malic, citric, lactic, mucic, gluconic, benzoic, succinic, oxalic, phenylacetic, methanesulphonic, toluenesulphonic, benzenesulphonic, salicylic, sulphanilic, aspartic, glutamic, edetic, stearic, palmitic, oleic, lauric, pantothenic, tannic, ascorbic and valeric acids.
  • pharmaceutically acceptable inorganic acids such as hydrochloric, sulfuric, phosphoric, nitric, carbonic,
  • Base salts include, but are not limited to, those formed with pharmaceutically acceptable cations, such as sodium, potassium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, ammonium, alkylammonium such as salts formed from triethylamine, alkoxyammonium such as those formed with ethanolamine and salts formed from ethylenediamine, choline or amino acids such as arginine, lysine or histidine.
  • pharmaceutically acceptable cations such as sodium, potassium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, ammonium, alkylammonium such as salts formed from triethylamine, alkoxyammonium such as those formed with ethanolamine and salts formed from ethylenediamine, choline or amino acids such as arginine, lysine or histidine.
  • Basic nitrogen-containing groups may be quarternised with such agents as lower alkyl halide, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl chlorides, bromides and iodides; dialkyl sulfates like dimethyl and diethyl sulfate; and others.
  • lower alkyl halide such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl chlorides, bromides and iodides
  • dialkyl sulfates like dimethyl and diethyl sulfate; and others.
  • compositions of such compositions may contain pharmaceutically acceptable additives, such as carriers, diluents or excipients. These include, where appropriate, all conventional solvents, dispersion agents, fillers, solid carriers, coating agents, antifungal and antibacterial agents, dermal penetration agents, surfactants, isotonic and absorption agents and the like. It will be understood that the compositions of the invention may also include other supplementary physiologically active agents.
  • compositions include those suitable for oral, rectal, inhalational, nasal, transdermal, topical (including buccal and sublingual), vaginal or parenteral (including subcutaneous, intramuscular, intraspinal, intravenous and intradermal) administration.
  • the compositions may conveniently be presented in unit dosage form and may be prepared by any methods well known in the art of pharmacy. Such methods include the step of bringing into association the active ingredient with the carrier which constitutes one or more accessory ingredients. In general, the compositions are prepared by uniformly and intimately bringing into association the active ingredient with liquid carriers or finely divided solid carriers or both, and then if necessary shaping the product.
  • compositions for use in the present invention may be formulated to be water or lipid soluble.
  • compositions of the present invention suitable for oral administration may be presented as discrete units such as capsules, sachets or tablets each containing a predetermined amount of the active ingredient; as a powder or granules; as a solution or a suspension in an aqueous or non-aqueous liquid; or as an oil-in-water liquid emulsion or a water-in-oil liquid emulsion.
  • the active ingredient may also be presented as a bolus, electuary or paste.
  • a tablet may be made by compression or moulding, optionally with one or more accessory ingredients.
  • Compressed tablets may be prepared by compressing in a suitable machine the active ingredient in a free-flowing form such as a powder or granules, optionally mixed with a binder (eg inert diluent, preservative, disintegrant (eg. sodium starch glycolate, cross-linked polyvinyl pyrrolidone, cross-linked sodium carboxymethyl cellulose)) surface-active or dispersing agent.
  • a binder eg inert diluent, preservative, disintegrant (eg. sodium starch glycolate, cross-linked polyvinyl pyrrolidone, cross-linked sodium carboxymethyl cellulose)
  • Moulded tablets may be made by moulding in a suitable machine a mixture of the powdered compound moistened with an inert liquid diluent.
  • the tablets may optionally be coated or scored and may be formulated so as to provide slow or controlled release of the active ingredient therein using, for example, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose in varying proportions to provide the desired release profile. Tablets may optionally be provided with an enteric coating, to provide release in parts of the gut other than the stomach.
  • compositions suitable for topical administration in the mouth include lozenges comprising the active ingredient in a flavored base, usually sucrose and acacia or tragacanth gum; pastilles comprising the active ingredient in an inert basis such as gelatin and glycerin, or sucrose and acacia gum; and mouthwashes comprising the active ingredient in a suitable liquid carrier.
  • the compounds of Formula (I) or (IV) may also be administered intranasally or via inhalation, for example by atomizer, aerosol or nebulizer means.
  • compositions suitable for topical administration to the skin may comprise the compounds dissolved or suspended in any suitable carrier or base and may be in the form of lotions, gel, creams, pastes, ointments and the like.
  • suitable carriers include mineral oil, propylene, glycol, polyoxyethylene, polyoxypropylene, emulsifying wax, sorbitan monostearate, polysorbate 60, cetyl esters wax, cetearyl alcohol, 2-octyldodecanol, benzyl alcohol and water.
  • Transdermal devices such as patches, may also be used to administer the compounds of the invention.
  • compositions for rectal administration may be presented as a suppository with a suitable carrier base comprising, for example, cocoa butter, gelatin, glycerin or polyethylene glycol.
  • compositions suitable for vaginal administration may be presented as pessaries, tampons, creams, gels, pastes, foams or spray formulations containing in addition to the active ingredient such carriers as are known in the art to be appropriate.
  • compositions suitable for parenteral administration include aqueous and non-aqueous isotonic sterile injection solutions which may contain anti-oxidants, buffers, bactericides and solutes which render the composition isotonic with the blood of the intended recipient; and aqueous and non-aqueous sterile suspensions which may include suspending agents and thickening agents.
  • the compositions may be presented in unit-dose or multi-dose sealed containers, for example, ampoules and vials, and may be stored in a freeze-dried (lyophilized) condition requiring only the addition of the sterile liquid carrier, for example water for injections, immediately prior to use.
  • Extemporaneous injection solutions and suspensions may be prepared from sterile powders, granules and tablets of the kind previously described.
  • Preferred unit dosage compositions are those containing a daily dose or unit, daily sub-dose, as herein above described, or an appropriate fraction thereof, of the active ingredient.
  • compositions of this invention may include other agents conventional in the art having regard to the type of composition in question, for example, those suitable for oral administration may include such further agents as binders, sweeteners, thickeners, flavoring agents, disintegrating agents, coating agents, preservatives, lubricants and/or time delay agents.
  • suitable sweeteners include sucrose, lactose, glucose, aspartame or saccharine.
  • Suitable disintegrating agents include corn starch, methylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, xanthan gum, bentonite, alginic acid or agar.
  • Suitable flavoring agents include peppermint oil, oil of wintergreen, cherry, orange or raspberry flavoring.
  • Suitable coating agents include polymers or copolymers of acrylic acid and/or methacrylic acid and/or their esters, waxes, fatty alcohols, zein, shellac or gluten.
  • Suitable preservatives include sodium benzoate, vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, methyl paraben, propyl paraben or sodium bisulphite.
  • Suitable lubricants include magnesium stearate, stearic acid, sodium oleate, sodium chloride or talc.
  • Suitable time delay agents include glyceryl monostearate or glyceryl distearate.
  • FIG. 1 depicts: left, CD spectra of cyclic pentapeptides SEQ ID NOs: 10 (pink), 11 (blue), 8 (black), 9 (red), 12 (light blue), 13 (purple), 18 (red), 19 (yellow) in 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.4, 25° C.) and; right, schematic demonstrating the positions of the three hydrogen bonds (dotted lines) important for stabilization of the pentapeptide helix.
  • FIG. 2 depicts CD spectra of compounds SEQ ID NOS: 23 (black), 24 (grey), 25 (red), 26 (blue), 27 (yellow), 28 (purple), 29 (green), 30 (light blue), 31 (orange) in 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.4, 25° C.) demonstrating the variation of helicity by varying the residues within the lactam cycle.
  • FIG. 3 depicts: left, a ROE Summary Diagram (left) and 20 lowest energy calculated structures for Ac-(cyclo-2,6)—R[KAAAD]—NH 2 (23) in 90% H 2 O: 10% D 2 O at 20° C. Thickness of bars reflects intensity of ROEs; right, lactam bridge in purple
  • FIG. 4 depicts CD spectra of 8 in 10 mM phosphate buffer (black) (pH 7.4, 25° C.) and 50% TFE (red).
  • FIG. 5 is a graphical representation showing the variation in molar elipticity of 8 at 215 nm with increasing [guanidine.HCl] at 25° C.
  • FIG. 6 depicts a CD spectrum comparing the helicity of SEQ ID NOs: 46 and 47 with their acyclic linear analogues SEQ ID NOs: 54 and 55.
  • FIG. 7 depicts the sequential and medium ROEs, temperature coefficients, and coupling constants for SEQ ID NO: 46 in 90% H 2 O: 10% D 2 O.
  • FIG. 8 depicts (a) Helical wheel for dimer SEQ ID NO: 46, cyclo(1-5,6-10)-Ac-[KARADKARAD]-NH 2 showing side chain distribution; (b) side view of SEQ ID NO: 46 with helical backbone (yellow), bridging lactam restraints (white), exposed side chains (green spheres); and (c) SEQ ID NO: 46 viewed end on.
  • FIG. 9 depicts CD spectra in 10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, 25° C. for 32-44 mM solutions of (a) SEQ ID NO: 46 (—), SEQ ID NO: 47 ( - - - ) and acyclic analogues SEQ ID NO: 54 ( - - - ) and SEQ ID NO: 55 ( - - - ); (b) SEQ ID NO: 46 (—) versus SEQ ID NO: 47 ( - - - ), SEQ ID NO: 54 ( - - - ) and SEQ ID NO: 55 ( - - - ) in 50% TFE.
  • FIG. 10 is a illustration of the crystal structure of Bad (grey) bound to Bcl-X L protein, NMR structures of monocycle (purple) and bicycle (green) overlay closely with the Bad helix and can display the side chains required for binding in the correct position.
  • PDBID 1 g5j
  • FIG. 11 is an illustration of the crystal structure of p53 (grey) bound to MDM2 oncoprotein (PDBID: lycq), with monocycle (Ac-R[KAAAD]-NH 2 [SEQ ID NO: 23]) overlayed showing it can position the binding residues in the required position
  • FIG. 12 depicts CD spectra of constrained nociceptin mimetics SEQ ID NOs: 79 and 77, known peptidic agonist (FGGFTGARKSARK-NH 2 ; SEQ ID NO: 80, Ki:0.3 nM), and linear address sequence (AcTGARKSARK-NH 2 , SEQ ID NO:81).
  • Peptides represented by SEQ ID NO. 8 to SEQ ID NO: 31 were prepared on 0.25 mmol scale by manual stepwise solid phase peptide synthesis using HCTU/DIPEA activation for Fmoc chemistry on Rink Amide MBHA resin (substitution 0.78 mmol ⁇ g ⁇ 1 ), or Tentagel S RAM resin (substitution 0.25 mmol ⁇ g ⁇ 1 ), or Trityl chloride resin (substitution 1.0 mmol ⁇ g ⁇ 1 ).
  • the allyl ester of aspartic acid and allyl carbamate of lysine were removed by treating the peptide resin with Pd(PPh 3 ) 4 (0.1 eq) and N,N-dimethylbarbituric acid (4 eq), in DCM, under argon and in the dark for 2 hrs, this procedure was repeated once. After which the peptide was washed with DCM, DMF and 0.5% diethyldithiocarbamate in DMF. 2 mg of resin was subjected to cleavage and the progress of the reaction monitored by MS. This process was repeated if necessary.
  • Cyclization was effected on-resin using 1.5 eq BOP, 2 eq DIPEA in DMSO/NMP (1:4). The reaction was monitored by cleavage of ⁇ 2 mg resin and subjecting the residue to MS, total reaction time was ⁇ 24 hours. The peptides were simultaneously deprotected and cleaved from the resin by 2 hr treatment of the washed and dried resin in 95% TFA, 2.5% TIPS, 2.5% H 2 O, or 1% TFA in DCM (15 ⁇ l per 10 mg resin). The solution was then filtered, the filtrate concentrated in vacuo and the peptide precipitated with cold diethyl ether.
  • the peptide precipitate was filtered washed with copious amounts of diethyl ether, redissolved in 1:1 acetonitrile/water and lyophilised.
  • Solvent B 0.1% TFA, 10% H 2 O in Acetonitrile. Gradient: 0% B to 100% B over 30 mins).
  • 1 H NMR was carried out in H 2 O:D 2 O (9:1) at 298K.
  • Synthesis of the peptide of formula (II) was achieved by standard Fmoc SPPS protocols using trityl chloride polystyrene resin.
  • the peptide was capped with phenyl butanoic acid, cleaved from the resin using 1% TFA in dichloromethane (DCM) leaving side chain protecting groups intact.
  • Isobutylamine was then coupled on using BOP, DIPEA, with CuCl 2 —an additive known to minimize racemisation of the C-terminal residue. Following this final deprotection was effected with 95% TFA, 2.5% TIPS, 2.5% H 2 O.
  • NH 2 -(cyclo-1-5)-KARAD-NH 2 (SEQ ID NO. 52) was prepared by manual stepwise solid phase peptide synthesis using HBTU/DIPEA activation for Fmoc chemistry 107 on Rink Amide MBHA resin (substitution 0.78 mmol ⁇ g ⁇ 1 , 1.56 mmol, 2000 mg).
  • DIPEA diisopropylethylamine
  • DIPEA (135 ⁇ L, 0.38 mmol) was added to a solution of Boc-(cyclo1-5)-KAR(Pb)AD-OH [SEQ ID NO: 53](66 mg, 0.077 mmol), NHr-(cyclo1-5)-KARAD-NH 2 [SEQ ID NO: 52](42 mg, 0.074 mmol, and BOP (52 mg, 0.154 mmol) in DMF (5 mL). After stirring (2 h, RT), solvent was evaporated in vacuo, the residue dissolved in H 2 O/MeCN (1:1), lyophilized and purified (rpHPLC).
  • DIPEA diisopropylethylamine
  • Cyclization was effected on-resin using 1.5 eq BOP, 2 eq DIPEA in DMSO/NMP (1:4). The reaction was monitored by cleavage of ⁇ 2 mg resin and subjecting the residue to MS, total reaction time was ⁇ 24. After subsequent piperidine deprotection, the resin was shaken with 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde in dimethylormamide/trimethylorthoformate (1:1) for 10 hr, the resin was then drained and NaBH(OAc) 3 (10 eq) in dimethylormamide/trimethylorthoformate (1:1).
  • the resin was then acylated overnight with the symmetrical anhydride of Fmoc-Asp(OAll)-OH (generated by stirring 6 eq Fmoc-Asp(OAll)-OH, and 3 eq Diisopropylcarbodimide in DCM for 30 mins). Cleavage of a small amount of resin and analysis by MS indicated complete N ⁇ acylation after 24 hrs. The remaining residues were introduced using the standard HCTU/DIPEA activation, and allyl deprotection and macrolactamization was achieved as previously described.
  • the peptide resin was deprotected, washed and dried. Final cleavage of the peptides was achieved with 92.5% TFA, 2.5% TIPS, 2.5% EDT, 2.5% H 2 O. The solution was then filtered, the filtrate concentrated in vacuo and the peptide precipitated with cold diethyl ether. The peptide precipitate was filtered washed with copious amounts of diethyl ether, redissolved in 1:1 acetonitrile/water and lyophilised. The crude peptides were purified by rp-HPLC (R t1 :Vydac C18 column, 300 ⁇ .
  • Circular Dichroism was performed on peptides having SEQ ID NOs: 8 to 14 and 18 to 31, using methods described above.
  • the molar elipticities at 222 nm, 208 nm and 190 nm, ratios of elipticities at 222 nm/208 nm and relative helicity are shown in Tables 6 and 7.
  • CD spectra of these peptides are given in FIG. 1 .
  • the CD spectrum for SEQ ID NO: 8 shows a slight shift in its minima to lower wavelengths compared with longer alpha helical peptides (222 nm ⁇ 215 nm, 208 nm ⁇ 207 nm), as has been observed before in short fixed nucleus alanine helices 116 .
  • longer alpha helical peptides 222 nm ⁇ 215 nm, 208 nm ⁇ 207 nm
  • the negative minimum at 215 nm is consistent with the long wavelength n ⁇ * transition commonly observed for alpha helices and beta sheets in the 215-230 nm wavelength range.
  • the observed positive maximum at 190 nm and negative minimum at 207 nm characterize the structure as alpha helix rather than beta sheet, as these bands can only arise from exciton splitting of the NV, transition by the interaction of electric dipole transition moments among amides in the well defined geometry of the alpha helix.
  • the relative intensities of these peaks for SEQ ID NO 8 mirror those observed for other alpha helices, therefore we have quoted the intensities at 190 nm, 207 nm and 215 nm in Table 6.
  • FIG. 2 shows that helicity is dependent on which residues intervene between the bridging residues.
  • the helical structure is tolerant of substitution by alpha helix inducing residues like Ala ([SEQ ID NO: 23], Leu [SEQ ID NO: 24], Met [SEQ ID NO: 25], Gln [SEQ ID NO: 26] and Phe [SEQ ID NO: 27], as demonstrated by the deep minima at 215/207 nm, high maximum at 190 nm, and high ratio ⁇ 215 / ⁇ 207 .
  • There is some variation in the intensity at these wavelengths which closely mirrors the intrinsic alpha helical propensity of specific amino acids determined in protein environments 35 .
  • the system can be perturbed by replacing the central residue with glycine [SEQ ID NO: 28], which results in a decrease in intensity at 215 nm, 207 nm and 190 nm, along with the appearance of a deeper minimum at 201 nm that is commonly observed for 3 10 -helicity/random coil structures.
  • This reduction in alpha helicity also results from placement of two [SEQ ID NO: 29] or three [SEQ ID NO: 30] helix disfavoring residues between the bridging residues, although based on the shape of their CD spectra there is some bias towards a helical conformation.
  • SEQ ID NO: 31 where three alpha helix breaking residues are present [SEQ ID NO: 31], total abolition of helicity was indicated by the single deep minimum at 200 nm characteristic of a random coil.
  • Structural characterization was conducted for SEQ ID NO. 8 and SEQ ID NO 23 using 1D and 2D 1H-NMR spectroscopy in 90% H 2 O: 10% D 2 O at 288 K (pH 4.0). 2D-TOCSY spectra at 600 MHz were used to identify resonances for each amino acid. Due to the molecular weight of the macrocycle, ROESY instead of NOESY spectra had to be used to identify sequential connectivity and intra-residue NH—NH and NH—CH cross peaks Spectral overlap in SEQ ID NO. 8 prevented unambiguous identification of key long range ROEs, however SEQ ID NO. 23 gave well defined resonances and was investigated further. There were a number of spectral features that are characteristic of well-defined structure in the cyclic hexapeptide [SEQ ID NO: 23], and specifically characteristic of alpha helicity.
  • the final 16 lowest energy structures contained no dihedral angle (>2°) or distance (>0.1 ⁇ ) violations and are displayed in FIG. 3 .
  • Peptides having SEQ ID NOs: 30 and 31 have three of the same amino acids between linking amino acids, namely Serine or Glycine, and such amino acids are known in proteins to be the least favorable to helix formation. In fact Serine is often termed a helix breaker and Glycine is often thought of as a beta/gamma turn inducer.
  • the peptide having SEQ ID NO: 29 suggests that even with two of these amino acids present, the cyclic pentapapetide can still have appreciable alpha helicity.
  • CD Spectra for SEQ ID NOs: 8 to 13, 18 and 19 and SEQ ID NOs: 23 to 31 can be found in FIGS. 1 and 2 , respectively.
  • the present inventors have disclosed the first 5-residue peptides that display essentially complete alpha helicity in water, making them the shortest and most stable peptide alpha helices known. This result, confirmed by NMR-derived structure determination in water, was unique for pentapeptides cyclized through amide formation specifically between Lysine and Aspartate at positions i and i+4 respectively. Their alpha helical nature has been convincingly established by circular dichroism and 1 H-NMR spectra, neither of which were concentration dependent, thus ruling out alpha helicity due to aggregation.
  • the helix stability is dependent upon sequence, according to normal rules of protein-based structure e.g., those residues known to favor alpha helicity in proteins also favor alpha helicity in these cyclic pentapeptides.
  • these simple systems are not complicated by effects of side chain packing, folding, intra- or inter-molecular interactions other than with solvent, and thus would appear to offer excellent opportunities to investigate effects of individual natural or unnatural amino acid components on the alpha helix.
  • the cycles remained intact under peptide-denaturing conditions, they may be useful as templates in longer peptides for studying unfolding/refolding and for ‘seeding’ structure in proteins and polypeptides.
  • the stability of the cycles under peptide-degrading conditions also suggests that they may have useful alpha helix-mimicking properties in biologically relevant environments.
  • alpha helical cyclic pentapeptides suggest their use as single turn alpha helical modules, with capacity for decoration by peptidic, cyclic, or non-peptidic appendages, to mimic bioactive peptide or protein alpha helical segments.
  • FIG. 5 clearly shows that SEQ ID NO: 8 is conformationally stable, the pentapeptide maintains full alpha helicity even in the presence of 8M guanidinium chloride. These conditions readily denature peptides and proteins, but do not affect alpha helicity in 8.
  • a standard solution of Ac-KARAD-NH 2 and Ac-(cyclo-1,5)-KARAD-NH 2 (1 mg/mL) was prepared in 100 mM ammonium carbonate buffer at pH ⁇ 8.2. To 100 ⁇ L of each solution was added 1 mg/mL of trypsin (1 ⁇ L). The digest was conducted at room temperature with 5 ⁇ L aliquots taken at 1, 4, 8, 28, 48, 55, 110, 155 minutes. Aliquots were diluted with 5 ⁇ L of 3% TFA to stop the reaction. and analyzed by LC-MS using 2.1 ⁇ 150 mm Phenomenex 300A C18 5 ⁇ m column, with a 3% per minute linear gradient of 0-60% acetonitrile over 20 minutes. The amount of starting material left in each sample was quantified by determination of total ion counts for the molecular ion.
  • Standard solutions of Ac-KARAD-NH 2 and Ac-(cyclo-1,5)-KARAD-NH 2 (1 mg/mL) were prepared in water. 200 ⁇ L of each peptide was added to human serum 800 ⁇ L and incubated at 37° C. Acetonitrile/water 3:1 (300 ⁇ L) was added to aliquots (100 ⁇ L) of serum at 5, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes to precipitate serum proteins, which were removed by centrifugation. The decanted supernatant was analyzed by LC-MS MS with a 2.1 ⁇ 150 mm Phenomenex 300A C18 5 um column, using a 3% per minute linear gradient from 0%-60% acetonitrile over 20 minutes. The amount of starting material left in each sample was quantified by determination of total ion counts for the molecular ion.
  • the molar elipticities at 222 nm, 208 nm and 190 nm, ratios of elipticities at 222 nm/208 nm and percentage helicity are shown in Table 8.
  • FIG. 6 A CD Spectrum comparing the helicity of SEQ ID NOs: 46 and 47 with their acyclic linear analogues SEQ ID NOs: 54 and 55 is shown in FIG. 6 .
  • Three dimensional structures were calculated for SEQ ID NO: 46 in water, initially using torsional angle dynamic simulated annealing in DYANA 112 , followed by dynamic simulated annealing and energy minimization in Xplor (3.851) 113 from 89 ROE (24 sequential, 38 medium range, 27 intra-residue) distance restraints, 9 phi angle restraints ( 3 J NHCH ⁇ , ⁇ 65 ⁇ 300) and 2 chi1 angle restraints ( 3 J NHCH ⁇ , ⁇ 1 ⁇ 60 ⁇ 300). No explicit H-bond restraints were included in calculations.
  • Final structures indicate 3 well-defined alpha helical turns for SEQ ID NO: 46 in water, with lactam bridges in the locations anticipated from FIG. 8 .
  • the helical macrocycles were conformationally very stable even under protein-denaturing conditions, as illustrated by the low dependence of their CD spectra on temperature between 5-65° C. ( FIG. 9 a ) and on the concentration of guanidine.HCl ( FIG. 9 b ).
  • Peptide cleavage products were eluted using a linear gradient of acetonitrile from 0 to 80% in aqueous 0.01% formic acid over 20 minutes at a rate of 300 ⁇ L/min.
  • Rate of degradation of either SEQ ID NO: 32 or SEQ ID NO: 43 was quantified by determining extracted ion counts of chromatograms relative to control solutions (containing no enzyme) using a QSTAR PULSAR Electrospray QqTOF Mass Spectrometer and analyzed using BioMultiview (SCIEX Software).
  • Retention time of SEQ ID NO: 46 11.64 minutes.
  • Retention time of linear peptide SEQ ID NO: 54 7.43 minutes.
  • SEQ ID NO: 46 was also found to be highly resistant to proteolytic cleavage by trypsin (97% recovered intact after 2 h), whereas the linear peptide Ac-KARADKARAD-NH 2 (SEQ ID NO: 54) was completely degraded within 30 seconds.
  • Apoptosis the process by which unwanted or damaged cells are removed during development and tissue homeostasis, has been implicated in several malignancies.
  • the Bcl-2 family of proteins contains of several homologues that can display either pro-(Bad, Bak, Bid, Bim, Bax) or anti-(Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bcl-W) apoptotic activity.
  • anti apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family are usually up-regulated resulting in the survival of cancer cells, therefore synthetic inhibitors and anti-apoptotic members are attractive chemotherapeutic agents 126 .
  • the BH3 domains of pro-apoptotic members (Bad, Bak, Bid, Bim) interact with target proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-X L , Bcl-w) via a short region of alpha helix (indicated in FIG. 10 ) with the general formula:
  • Xaa is any natural alpha amino acid
  • Baa is a hydrophobic alpha amino acid
  • Zaa is a negatively charged alpha amino acid
  • C 1 is a hydrophobic N-terminal capping group
  • K is a lysine
  • D is an aspartate
  • Xaa is any natural or unnatural
  • Baa is any natural or unnatural hydrophobic alpha amino acid
  • Zaa is any natural or unnatural negatively charged alpha amino acid
  • C 2 is a hydrophobic C-terminal capping group.
  • C 1 is an N-terminal capping group
  • Xaa is any amino acid
  • Zaa is any negatively charged natural or unnatural alpha amino acid
  • C 2 is a C-terminal capping group.
  • Binding affinities can be measured relative to the native peptide by competitive fluorescence polarization assay using the fluorescein labeled Bad peptide Flu- ⁇ ANLWAAQRYGRELRRMSDKKFVDSFKK-NH 2 as a probe.
  • the dissociation constant of this peptide for Bcl-X L is 0.6 nM 130 and for Bcl-2 is 3 nM 131 .
  • the assay is performed according to Zhang et al. 131 Briefly, a stock solution of 5 nM of the fluorescein labeled Bad peptide, 25 nm of Bcl-2, 1 mM EDTA, and 0.05% PEG-8000 in 20 mM phosphate buffer pH 7.4 is prepared.
  • the protein p53 acts as a potent tumor suppressor that prevents the proliferation of malignant cells causing cell cycle arrest or apoptosis, however it is the most frequently inactivated protein in human cancers 132 .
  • p53 is tightly controlled by the protein MDM2, however its up-regulation results in the proliferation of cancer cells. It has been demonstrated that inhibitors of MDM2 can restore the cell cycle arrest of apoptotic mechanism resulting in the destruction of cancer cells 133 , indicating that p53 binds to MDM2 via and alpha helical conformation.
  • Aib is ⁇ -aminoisobutyric acid
  • Pmp is 4-(Phosphonomethyl)-L-phenylalanine
  • 6ClW is 6-Chloro-L-Tryptophan
  • Ac 3 c is 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid.
  • C 1 is a hydrophobic N-terminal capping group (natural or unnatural ⁇ -amino acid or dipeptide, aliphatic or aromatic carboxylic acid)
  • K is a lysine
  • Zaa is a negatively, natural or unnatural ⁇ -amino acid
  • Baa is a hydrophobic, natural or unnatural ⁇ -amino acid—preferably an L-tryptophan derivative with halogen or alkyl substitution in the 5 or 6 position
  • Xaa is any natural or unnatural ⁇ -amino acid
  • D is aspartate
  • C2 is a hydrophobic C-terminal capping group (natural or unnatural ⁇ -amino acid or dipeptide, aliphatic or aromatic amine).
  • molecules of this sort could include:
  • Binding affinities can be measured relative to the native peptide by competitive fluorescence polarization assay using the fluorescein labeled p53 peptide Ac-FR(Dpr-Flu)(Ac 6 c)(6-Br-W)EEL-NH 2 as a probe.
  • the dissociation constant of this peptide for MDM2 is 2 nM (5).
  • the assay is performed according to Zhang et. al. 136 . Briefly, a stock solution of 10 nM of the fluorescein labeled p53 peptide, 30 nM of MDM2, 1 mM EDTA, and 0.05% PEG-8000 in 20 mM phosphate buffer pH 7.4 is prepared.
  • the function of the ORL-1 receptor includes pain transmission, stress and anxiety, learning and memory, locomotor activity, food intake, motivational properties of drugs of abuse 137 .
  • Agonists of the ORL-1 receptor have likely uses for anti-anxiety therapy, appetite suppressants, alcohol and opiate withdrawal therapies, anti-epilepsy drugs.
  • Antagonists of the ORL-1 receptor have likely uses for analgesia/pain therapy, alleviation of memory disorders 137 .
  • the receptor is activated by the endogenous ligand nociceptin which has the sequence: F 1 -G 2 -G 3 -F 4 -T 5 -G 6 -A 7 -R 8 -K 9 -S 10 -A 11 -R 12 -K 13 -L 14 -A 15
  • FGGF N-terminal residues
  • SAR data indicated that the dibasic repeat (residues 8, 9 and 12, 13) is especially important for binding 138 .
  • the address sequence binds to the ORL-1 receptor in an ⁇ -helical conformation 139 .
  • C 1 is a suitable N-terminal capping group (1-5 natural or unnatural ⁇ -amino acids, aliphatic/aromatic carboxylic acid or non-peptidic opioid antagonist), K is lysine, Xaa is any amino acid, D is aspartate, C 2 is a suitable C-terminal capping group (primary or an aliphatic/aromatic secondary amide).
  • K is lysine
  • Xaa is any amino acid
  • D is aspartate
  • C 2 is a suitable C-terminal capping group (primary or an aliphatic/aromatic secondary amide).
  • Compounds of this type could include:
  • Cyclo(6-10,11-15)-FGGFT[KARKD] SEQ ID NO: 76 [KRKLD]-NH 2 (agonist) Cyclo(6-10,11-15)-NpheGGFT[KARKD] SEQ ID NO: 77 [KRKLD]-NH 2 (antagonist) Cyclo(2-6,7-11)-Ac-T[KARKD][KRKLD]- SEQ ID NO: 78 NH 2 (antagonist) Cyclo(2-6,7-11)-(8-napthalen-1-yl- SEQ ID NO: 79 methyl-4-oxo-1-phenyl-1,3,8-triaza- spiro[4,5]dec-3-yl)-acetoyl-[KARKD] [KRKLD]-NH 2 (antagonist)
  • endogenous ligand is known to be cleaved by endopeptidases at the several positions 137 (see below). Given that the monocyclic and bicyclic strategy prevent cleavage by proteases within the cycle, the mimetics described above would be expected to be metabolically stable.
  • Membranes from recombinant HEK-293 cells expression hORL-1 are prepared as described in (Zhang et al.) 140 .
  • the above peptides are incubated with 0.1 nM [ 3 H]-nociceptin, 20 g membrane protein/well in a final volume of 500 ⁇ L of binding buffer in 96-well plates for 2 hr at room temperature.
  • Binding reactions are terminated by rapid filtration onto 96well Unifilter GF/C filter plates pre-soaked in 0.5% polyethylenamine using 96-well tissue harvester, followed by three washes with ice cold binding buffer. Filter plates are dried at 50° C. for 3 hrs, and then scintillation cocktail is added (50 ⁇ g/well) and plates counted in a scintillation counter for 1 min/well. Data is analyzed using the one-site competition curve fitting function in PRISM.
  • Fmoc-Asp(OAllyl)-OH and tetrakis(triphenylphosphino)palladium were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (Sydney, Australia). Boc-Lys(Fmoc)-OH, Rink Amide MBHA resin and other L-amino acids were obtained from Novabiochem (Melbourne, Australia). Benzotriazol-1-yl-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium (HBTU) and benzotriazol-1-yloxy-tris(dimethylamino)-phosphonium (BOP) were obtained from Richelieu Biotechnologies (Quebec Canada). All other reagents were of peptide synthesis grade and obtained from Auspep (Melbourne, Australia).
  • Samples for NMR analysis of peptides were prepared by dissolving the peptide 3 mg in 450 ul H 2 O and 50 ul D 2 O (5 mmol) and adjusting the pH of the solution to 4.5 by adding HCl or NaOH and stirring for 30 min.
  • 1D and 2D 1 H NMR spectra were recorded on both Bruker ARX-500 and Bruker Avance DMX-750 spectrometers at 278K. All spectra were recorded in the phase sensitive mode using time proportional phasing incrementation 96 .
  • 2D experiments included TOCSY using MLEV-17 spin lock sequence with a mixing time of 100 ms, NOESY with a mixing time of 300 ms.
  • Stereospecific assignments of ⁇ -methylene protons and ⁇ 1 dihedral angles were derived from 1D 1 H spectra 3 J ⁇ and set to ⁇ 60 ⁇ 30° for both aspartic acid residues.
  • Initial structures were generated using a torsion angle simulated annealing protocol in DYANA until no violations were obtained.
  • Final structures were calculated using XPLOR 3.851. Starting structures with randomized ⁇ and ⁇ angles and extended side chains were generated using an ab initio simulated annealing protocol 101 .
  • the calculations were performed using the standard forcefield parameter set (PARALLHDG.PRO) and topology file (TOPALLHDG.PRO) in XPLOR with in house modifications to generated lactam bridges between lysing and aspartic acid residues.
  • Refinement of structures was achieved using the conjugate gradient Powell algorithm with 1000 cycles of energy minimization and a refined forcefield based on the program CHARMm 102 . Structures were visualized with MOLMOL 103 and InsightII
  • CD experiments were performed on a Jasco Model J-710 spectropolarimeter which was routinely calibrated with (1S)-(+)-10-camphorsulfonic acid. Temperature control was achieved using a Neslab RTE-111 circulating water bath. Spectra were recorded in a 0.1 cm Jasco cell between 310-185 nm at 50 nm/min with a band width of 1.0 nm, response time of 2 sec, resolution step width of 0.1 nm and sensitivity of 20, 50 or 100 mdeg. Each spectrum represents the average of 5 scans with smoothing to reduce noise. Peptide samples for CD spectroscopy were dissolved in distilled water ( ⁇ 1 mg/mL).
  • Each stock solution was diluted to a final concentration of 50 ⁇ M in 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH7.4), with or without additives (2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) or guanidine.HCl). Guanidine.HCl denaturation experiments were performed according to Creighton 105 .

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